Mulayam issues Hindi guidelines to shoo away English

Do what you may, but Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav -- as we reported the other fortnight -- is hellbent on driving English out from India.

The latest in his anti-English drive is the publication of the defence ministry guidelines for the Border Roads Organisation in Hindi. The idea, naturally, is to promote the use of the national language in official work.

On Wednesday, Yadav will release the Vibhagiya Digdarshika, as the departmental directory has been duly christined, at the South Block in New Delhi.

The new directory, according to Defence Accounts Controller Vijayalakshmi K Gupta, is going to do wonders for the BRO personnel -- like, for instance, it will serve a 'ready reckoner' for the staff... Earlier, she said, the work used to be delayed as most of them weren't comfortable with English.

The guidelines of an organisation like the BRO should be brought out in Hindi as it is mostly based in the northern and north-eastern regions of the country, Gupta said.

Yadav has been on the Hindi crusade for a long time now. Though he claims he is not 'anti-English', he wants the white language to be completely replaced with the national one in government offices and public life.

English is not an international language -- only seven countries in the world uses it as official language, says the defence minister. And so...

UNI