AIIMS New Delhi (File Photo)
IN A BID to “encourage” the use of Hindi, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi has offered cash incentives, from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000, to clerical staff who sign up for a six-month stenography training course, including typing, in the language. The incentive scheme, listed in a circular issued on June 29, comes after all department heads at AIIMS were asked to nominate within 15 days clerical staff who will undergo the training programme from August 16. The training is being conducted on the directions of the Department of Official Languages under the Ministry of Home Affairs, as part of the ‘Hindi Shikshan Yojana’.
The one-time incentives include:
In Rs 5,000 for those who score at least 97 per cent in an examination to be conducted after the course, Rs 3,000 for those who get 95 per cent, and Rs 2,000 for 90 per cent. In Rs 1,000 per month to those who “know English typing” but choose to carry out their official duties in Hindi after attending the training course. n Those who clear this exam will receive an incentive equal to the increment received by them for the financial year. The circular also warns that absenteeism after signing up for the course would be termed as “negligence of duty”.
Under the programme, clerical staff will undergo Hindi typing classes for an hour every day from Monday to Friday. They will be provided travel allowance to attend these classes, which will be conducted at a training centre in R K Puram. On June 7, the AIIMS administration had issued a circular to ensure the compliance of Official Languages Rule, 1976. According to the rules, the institute comes under Region A and is mandated to issue all communications in Hindi — any communication issued in English needs to be accompanied by a Hindi translation.
The administration has also issued a circular stating that all documents mentioned under section 3 (3) of the Official Languages Act 1963 — general orders, ads, resolutions, notifications, rules, stipulations, contracts, tenders, notices, Parliamentary reports and questions, etc — will be issued in Hindi and English. The circular had also stated that all computers used in the institute should be equipped to operate in Hindi and English.
