HYDERABAD: In a move that has raised several eyebrows in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the new Mayor who does not follow Telugu language has put forward a proposal to purchase multilingual interpretation equipment to listen and understand the proceedings during the standing committee meetings.
This is on the lines of Parliament and Legislative Assembly and the GHMC is expected to acquire the simultaneous multilingual interpretation equipment soon.
According to sources, this has become necessary as a majority of the corporators, including Mayor Majid Hussain and deputy mayor G Raj Kumar, are not able to understand 'other languages'. "The Mayor does not understand Telugu, while the deputy mayor does not know Hindi or Urdu," sources said.
The interpreting equipment helps put a speech in another languages simultaneously and at the same rate of speech as the speaker.
The Mayor put forward a proposal before GHMC Commissioner MT Krishna Babu and both discussed the issue and agreed to acquire the equipment soon.
"The GHMC has decided to purchase the equipment and is working out the modalities on implementing the new system. It will cost several lakhs of rupees," sources said, adding it would help all those who face language problem.
Sources said one agency which has installed the system in Parliament and the Assembly has come forward to take up the project. "They would present a live demonstration soon and conduct trial runs. For the benefit of corporators, the translation service would be extended in Telugu, Urdu, Hindi and English," they said.
A separate translator booth or monitoring unit will be created where expert translators in four languages would be allowed to seat. The interpreterstranslators will listen to speakers on their headsets.