Marxist Communist Party (CPI-M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas raised concerns on Sunday about the responses to parliamentary questions being provided exclusively in Hindi.
He has claimed that this custom breaches the legal language regulations. Additionally, it hinders parliamentarians from non-Hindi speaking regions in effectively carrying out their legislative duties.
The CPI(M) MP mentioned that he wrote a letter in Malayalam to Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh in response to his questions raised in Parliament in Hindi. While it is customary to use English when interacting with Members of Parliament from South Indian states.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas brought up this matter in a post on his verified X account. In addition to that, he has also provided copies of the letters sent by X and Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu in Hindi and his response in Malayalam.
Brittas stated that it is customary for letters to be written in English when addressing MPs from South Indian states on behalf of the Central Government. Yet, this has not occurred in the recent past. Ravneet Bittu has opted to specifically write in Hindi. I have no choice but to respond to him in Malayalam!
Brittas’ office stated, “MP Dr John Brittas has conveyed his response in Malayalam to Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu as a form of protest.” The comment emphasized the problem of providing responses solely in Hindi, disregarding India’s diverse languages.
It was stated that the action brings focus to the central government’s practice of responding to questions in Parliament exclusively in Hindi. John Brittas is the representative of Kerala, a state that does not recognize Hindi as an official language.