Amid intense opposition to Hindi imposition in the state, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer in Chennai has written to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). His context was related to employing officers who do not know Hindi to the Hindi cell in the GST Commissionerate. In the letter written to the Chairman of the CBIC, he asked that only those who know Hindi and are willing to work to propagate it should be posted in the Hindi cell.
In November 2019, Balamurugan joined the office as the Assistant Commissioner of the Hindi Cell and has a Superintendent (Sukumaran), an inspector and a staff member assisting him in his work in the cell. he added that the work of the Hindi cell is to diffuse Hindi as the central official language and to monitor its use. He also said he is not interested in that work. According to him, two officers in the cell including himself are from Tamil Nadu, the other two are from north India, with Hindi as their mother tongue.
In a letter, he wrote that "It is a rule that the notes on the files and letters written in the Hindi Cell must be in Hindi and that the Hindi language must be used at least 50% of the time. Neither did he, the assistant commissioner nor does Sukumaran the Superintendent know to read or write Hindi. Not only this, but the official communication on files is also usually done by the other two staff members in the cell. They sign it without even knowing what is written". The letter of IRS officer came at a time when t-shirts with anti-Hindi slogans and a general predilection against the imposition of the language are strong in the state.
Also Read:
Telangana CM KCR gears up for by-polls; know more!
SC slams petitioner over plea filed regarding petrol diesel rates
Documents to probe 38 crore scam in Himachal Pradesh handed over to ED
