Language Row: AIIMS Bhubaneswar Director Clarifies ‘Use Hindi’ Directive

Bhubaneswar: The director of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, B Gitanjali, clarified on Saturday that the directive to use Hindi in official work and communication was wrongly interpreted.

The clarification came a day after the BJD and Congress protested against the directive as being discriminatory towards Odia.

“Let me make it clear that the directive is solely meant for administrative work at the institute. It is for the staff who have their education in Hindi medium,” Gitanjali said after a meeting with a delegation of the BJD MPs. The delegation was led by BJD Parliamentary Party leader Pinaki Mishra.

The AIIMS director stated that the filling up of forms of patients at the hospital was done in Odia and English. In this context, medical and nursing students of the institute were being taught Odia for better communication with the patients and their attendants, she added.

“In fact, an internal memo was circulated among the AIIMS staff to comply with the Official Language Act, 1963, as per the directive of the Centre. The Centre has asked to comply with certain things pertaining to this Act within a specified timeline,” she said.