BHUBANESWAR: With the ruling BJD and opposition Congress voicing strong protest over imposition of Hindi as language for official and verbal communication in AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, BJP asked the State Government to explain why it failed to implement Odia in all official business.
Defending the action of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on use of Hindi language, former MP Kharbela Swain said no where in the circular it was mentioned that Odia language cannot be used or spoken by the staff of the institute.
Dubbing the reaction of the BJD as an attempt to mislead the people, Swain said nursing and undergraduate medical students of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar are being taught in Odia language. Railway tickets are now available in Odia and this was made possible by Narendra Modi government, he said.
"Will the State Government explain why all official works in State Government particularly in Secretariat, Assembly and in the three Government medical colleges at Cuttack, Burla and Berhampur are being transacted in Odia?" Swain asked.
It has been a long-standing demand of the people of the State to use Odia as the medium at all levels of judiciary. Many states have brought reforms in the judiciary by using their own language for the convenience of their people.
Why is the State Government still indecisive on the issue, he wondered.Swain asked BJD MP Pinaki Mishra, who has been leading the protest by sending a memorandum to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, to tell the people of the State in which language he argued his case in Orissa High Court. The BJD is more interested for English language than Odia as many of their top leaders are not well conversant with the regional language, he said.