:: Dilip Cherian

English please!

Dilip Cherian

Augest.16 : In Bihar, since 1997, the use of English in official work has dwindled as the state and its babus have been trying to promote Hindi as the official language. Now after all these years of Hindi-prem, a directive from the new state governor K. Sankaranarayanan, to prepare all memos and files meant for him in English, has put the babus in a quandary.

Suddenly, the Patna secretariat has become a hub of frentic activity, with the harried babus brushing up their English skills and wiping off the dust from their computers. Apparently, the use of Hindi has become so pervasive over the years that none of the stenographers appointed by the government to correspond with Union ministries are conversant in English.

However, sources say that the plight of the linguistically-challenged babus may not last long since Mr Sankaranarayanan has indicated that he is keen to learn Hindi. Bihar babus are now hoping that he’s a quick learner!

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Gujarati pique

The Union ministry of personnel’s decision to bring babus under the ambit of the Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) has received a thumbs-down in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat. Some senior babus in the state are unhappy that some of their peers have surged ahead of them in the pecking order under the new system.

Sources say that at least 40 senior Indian Administrative Service officers are now blaming the assessing authority, Manjula Subramaniam, former state chief secretary who retired in September last year. That should tell you how tardy they are about getting things done! She allegedly rushed through 400 APARs just 15 days before her retirement. However it may not be logical to review the appeals of so many babus who genuinely deserve an upward revision of grades. Ministry of personnel secretary A.N. Tiwari may, thus, have to find new ways of making our babus professional.