An order banning nursing staff of a Delhi government-run hospital from speaking in Malayalam in the hospital has been revoked, the Medical Director of the hospital said on Sunday.

It was on Saturday that a Delhi government-run hospital banned nursing staff from speaking in Malayalam in the hospital and warned of ‘serious action’ if they do not talk in English or Hindi. The incident took place at the Govinda Vallabh Pant Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (GIPMER) in Delhi. Most of the nurses in the hospital are from Kerala. 

After the order was revoked, Congress leader and Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor said in a tweet ‘A small victory for decency and common sense over parochialism & bigotry’. Rahul Gandhi  and Priyanka Gandhi also  took to Twitter to criticise the Delhi government-run medical institution.

“Malayalam is as Indian as any other Indian language. Stop language discrimination!” tweeted Rahul. Gandhi, who is now a Lok Sabha member from Kerala.  To make a point, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted her tweet in Malayalam.

Attaching a copy of the order, Ms. Vadra said, “This order is a violation of basic values of our country. It is racist, discriminatory and utterly wrong to the millions of nurses and health workers who have risked their lives to save us during this time of COVID pandemic”.“It is also an insult. We owe them a debt, gratitude and respect. It should be withdrawn and an apology should be tendered,” she added.

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CM Kejriwal said, "I am very upset today', know what the issue