Mohandas Pai says excessive use of Hindi in Centre's communication is 'wrong': 'Don't impose...'

TV Mohandas Pai said he was against the imposition of any language on citizens.

TV Mohandas Pai, the former CFO and board member of Infosys, has spoken out against the Centre's apparent lean towards the use of Hindi for its official communication with other states, especially those in the south. The Bengaluru-based entrepreneur said that while citizens are entitled to respond to government documents in their mother tongues, it's "worrisome" that the Centre has increasingly been partial towards Hindi.

"This excessive use Of Hindi in central govt communication is wrong and worrisome," Pai said, responding to a post by an MP from Kerala who responded to a Hindi letter from the centre with another written in Malayalam.

"Citizens are entitled to a reply in their native language or in English, not always Hindi," Pai added. "I know Hindi but oppose the government giving me a reply only in Hindi. Please do not impose any one language on citizens."

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) MP from Kerala, John Brittas, said that writing to the Union minister in Malayalam was a mark of protest.

“It has been a norm and precedent that letters addressed from Union Govt to south MPs are written in English. Lately, however, that’s not the case, and (Union minister) Ravneet Bittu makes it a point to write exclusively in Hindi. Am compelled to reply him in Malayalam!” he wrote on X, sharing letters from the Railway minister  and food processing industries written in Hindi. “The repeated Hindi-only replies suggest a deliberate policy."

According to the Official Languages Act of 1963,  English and Hindi can be used for official purposes of the Union and in Parliament, but it specifies that English can be used for communication with states that have not adopted Hindi.