NEW DELHI: Gujarati is the unofficial official language at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) these days with Narendra Modi at the helm of affairs. The PMO has been quietly hunting for translators, typists and stenographers proficient in Gujarati language skills and interviews are being conducted by none other than Jagdish Thakkar, who has been one of Modi’s most-trusted lieutenant for the last 12 years.
There has been a precedent in the PMO to source senior officials and those at junior levels from the state to which the PM belongs with the only exception being the 10 years of UPA I and II under Manmohan Singh. Under Singh, the Malayali lobby was very powerful in the PMO as officers from Kerala cadre alone occupied just about every key post in the country.
The trend to have regional language translators in the PMO started during P V Narasimha Rao’s tenure as Prime Minister in 1991-95. He was the first Prime Minister from a southern state. A special cell was made in the PMO during Rao’s time and an officer from Andhra Pradesh Information Department in Delhi was shifted to the PMO to handle the translational works from Telugu to English.
Being a Gujarati, Modi gets lot of communication and representations in the language of his home state and even from Gujaratis settled abroad. These have to be translated for non-Gujarati officials in the PMO and then answered in the same language.
The PMO has been sourcing people proficient in Gujarati on deputation from other Central ministries. Some retired Central government employees have also been approached to work on a contractual basis in the PMO. The people applying for the job have to undergo a written test and appear for an interview before any final decision is made.
Although there is no formal circular issued, the word has been spread to government’s information departments and ministries to look for people having “very good Gujarati language skills”, who can translate from Gujarati to English and vice-versa.
The applicants are called for a written test at South Block. A four-page sample for translation from Gujarati to English and English to Gujarati is given to them and they are specifically asked to ensure the translation is accurate and retains the technical and legal essence as in the original document.
“Both the translated works are then checked by officials in the PMO and if found satisfactory an appointment is fixed for a meeting with Mr Jagdish Thakkar for an informal interview. He talks about the kind of work, expectations and other formal things,” said one of the applicants, who applied for the job of a translator.
Some of the applicants are also apprehensive about the job as working under Modi is no easy task. The former Gujarat chief minister is known to be a no-nonsense man and a hard taskmaster who expects his employees to meet deadlines and be professional.
“During his term as Gujarat CM, the employees in the secretariat used to only get a lunch break and there were no tea breaks. An order was sent that tea and snack will be provided to all the officials on their tables so that this does not hamper the work. Unlike other government offices where employees work at their own pace, this is not the case in Gujarat secretariat,” said another applicant, who was a former Gujarat government employee and had later joined the Central government.
Modi has brought to Delhi all his key officials and personal assistants, who have been with him since the day he became the Gujarat CM. This includes Thakkar, a Gujarat Information Officer who has worked with Modi as the PRO to the Gujarat CM since 2001.
Another key appointment in the PMO from Gujarat is that of IAS officer Arvind Kumar Sharma, who has been made joint secretary.