BJD to AIIMS: Don’t Impose Hindi on People of Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Reacting sharply to the decision of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhubaneswar to strictly implement the usage of Hindi language in the day to day working of the medical, the Biju Janata Dal has said that don’t impose Hindi on the people of Odisha.

A delegation of Biju Janata Dal consisting of MPs and MLAs today handed over a memorandum to the Director, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar and Union Health Minister urging them not to go ahead with the office order that insisted on the usage of Hindi by the staff and faculty of AIIMS.

“Odisha is the first state to be formed on linguistic basis and we will not like to allow any body sidelining our mother tongue Odia, particularly by any institution that is working for the people of our state”, the memorandum said.

AIIMS Bhubaneswar is a public institution. People receiving treatment from AIIMS Bhubaneswar speak Odia and by imposing Hindi on the people of Odisha, it is jeopardizing the Interests of patients, their attendants and the stakeholders of the society in Odisha, it added.

“We strongly lodge our protest through this memorandum to AIIMS Bhubaneswar and through you to the Ministry of Health, Government of India that such imposition of Hindi language is discriminatory, arbitrary and a gross violation which will adversely affect thousands of people of Odisha who seek medical care from AIIMS Bhubaneswar”, the BJD leaders said.

“We strongly demand that this arbitrary and discriminatory Office Order be withdrawn with immediate effect and Odia language be used widely since our people are familiar with it and that will make their task of availing services at AIIMS Bhubaneswar easier” they further said.

BJD MPs and MLAs who have signed the memorandum and were present during handing over to Director, AIIMS Bhubaneswar were Pinaki Mihsra, Prasanna Acharya Dr. Amar Patnaik, Sarojini Hembram, Sarmistha Sethi, Anubhav Mohanty, Dr. Sasmit Patra, Ananta Narayan Jena and Susant Kumar Rout.