Southern Railway withdraws circular on Hindi usage

Chennai : The Southern Railway on Friday withdrew its circular that instructed station masters and train operation control officials to communicate only in Hindi or in English to avoid misunderstanding.

Last month, the Southern Railway had issued a circular asking station masters and train operation controllers to communicate in Hindi or in English and not in regional languages to avoid any miscommunication.

The Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU) had opposed the move as a backdoor imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu.

The SRMU had also asked whether the travelling public in Tamil Nadu would also be asked to learn Hindi or English to communicate with the station masters.

In its revised circular, the Railways has asked its employees to communicate in such a manner so as not to result in any misunderstanding of the messages.

Reacting to the original circular, DMK President M.K. Stalin said it is arrogance on part of the Railways to say that communication should not be in Tamil in Tamil Nadu.

He said, the instruction not to speak in Tamil in Tamil Nadu but only in Hindi is not just imposition of Hindi but language dominance.

Stalin warned railway officials to stop such "silly" orders or "his party would put a stop to it".