CHENNAI: Safety stickers in Hindi in the newly-introduced State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) buses triggered a controversy on Sunday as the instructions were not in Tamil. They were only in English and Hindi.
On Sunday, pictures of the stickers in Hindi and English were shared in social media by DMK MP Kanimozhi who termed them ‘imposition of Hindi’. This attracted the wrath of netizens. Following this, SETC management removed Hindi stickers.
Pictures of a newly-introduced AC sleeper-cum-seater bus operated by SETC between Chennai and Bengaluru were taken by a Salem-based bus enthusiast Santhapriyan Kamaraj. They were posted on Facebook and they went viral as the safety instructions were not in Tamil. The emergency exit, fire extinguisher and other instructions to be followed in case of accidents and emergency situations were given in English and Tamil.
“Though we always support the transport corporations, we are unable to understand why the safety instructions were not given in the local language. The purpose of safety stickers will be defeated if travellers cannot read it,” he said.
Kanimozhi shared the pictures posted by the bus enthusiast in Twitter and Facebook. “There was no space for Tamil in buses purchased using the taxpayers' money in the State,” she said.
“I strongly condemn the AIADMK government which is acting like they are not less than Union government which is already imposing Hindi,” tweeted Kanimozhi. The tweet went viral.
V Baskaran, Managing Director, SETC, said Hindi stickers were found in a prototype of AC sleeper-cum-seater bus built by a Bengaluru-based body building unit. We have removed them and stickers in Tamil will be pasted soon. We have also ordered the removal of the stickers in Hindi writings in all the buses,” he said.
A transport department release said that safety stickers in MTC and mofussil buses are only in Tamil.