KOZHIKODE: It’s not politics, it’s personal. Even as other southern states resist the Centre’s alleged bid to popularise Hindi, a local body in Kozhikode is actively working to achieve full literacy in the language by Republic Day next year.
However, there is no politics behind Chelannur grama panchayat’s ambitious target of ensuring that its residents aged between 20 and 70 learn the basics of Hindi. “A large number of migrants from north India, especially Hindi-speaking states, are coming to even rural areas of Kerala and people here often find it hard to communicate with them in Hindi. Hence, we decided to launch the project, which aims to address the issue by providing locals with the basic knowledge of Hindi,” said panchayat president Nousheer P P.
The scheme, launched on Republic Day 2021, teaches residents to speak, read and write in Hindi, he said.
“This is being done through special one-hour weekend training classes. The syllabus has been prepared by an expert team comprising Hindi school teachers of the region. There are 42 trainers — two in each ward,” Nousheer said.
Before implementing the project, the local body conducted a survey and identified 700 people who were illiterate in Hindi. They have been attending the classes for the past one year. Once the training is over, an examination will be held. If all the learners successfully complete the course, the local body will be declared as totally Hindi literate,” Nousheer said.