This initiative by the Hindi cells in Central government offices to propagate a working knowledge of the language comes under Article 343 of the Indian Constitution.

The same article, despite several amendments and recommendations, excludes the forced imposition of Hindi for the states under the C category like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Orissa, and north-eastern States.

In the 2004 resolutions (pages 108-113) on the implementation of the official language, Recommendation No. 11.5.13 was rejected.

This recommendation read: “The compulsory English Question Paper in all recruitment examinations should be abolished. The option of giving answers in English medium to a candidate should be given only under unavoidable circumstances. Similar rules should be applied in the interview also.”

But the recommendation to do away with English papers altogether was rejected with the following comments: “The orders regarding opting Hindi as the medium for the interviews already exist. But the recommendation with regard to dispensing with the compulsory English question paper and making Hindi as a medium of all recruitment examinations have not been accepted as this is against the spirit of the Official Language Resolution, 1968 passed by both the Houses of Parliament.”

In 2011, however, compulsory exams in Hindi was back, although in a different form. The implementation of Hindi was mentioned in the 2011 examination notification by the RBI which recognised the presence of Hindi cell and made learning Hindi mandatory, even for the C category States. The document, also, warned employees of disciplinary action, in case they failed to attend the classes prescribed.

According to senior central government officers in Chennai, the implementation existed in action from the 1990s but the mandatory feature of the Hindi implementation gained popularity, only after 2015. Post the year 2015, administrative meetings on Hindi implementation increased in frequency.

It was also then that the examination notice by the Tax Department and other central government offices in Chennai made the 100 marks test in Hindi compulsory for the direct recruitment of tax assistants.

“On paper, Tamil Nadu might have been exempt though, in reality, the teaching of Hindi is implemented, regardless,” a senior translator at the Controller of Defence Account in Teynampet said.

Under these formalised Hindi Cells, employees with no former education in the language are noted by an officer assigned. This list of potential student officers has to attend the classes.

Similarly, hugging their Hindi supplements and notebooks tight, two female Central government employees left their office in Rajaji Bhavan to a whitewashed isolated building to the back of the compound, to work on their Hindi grammar.

Adjusting her thick brown spectacles over her slender nose, one of them, said, “For administrative staff it is understandable but for technical staff, the enforcement of Hindi does not make sense. Now I have to leave my work for an hour and attend classes which I am forced to. My mother, who also worked with the central government, never had to learn Hindi. So, I didn’t know that there is a provision like this. I am learning technical words here.”

According to Ramah P Iyengar, the Assistant Director of the Hindi Cell at Rajaji Bhawan in Besant Nagar, most employees are hesitant to sit for the class. “So we introduced monetary benefits. Like for Prabodh, it varies between Rs 400 and 1600, for Praveen, it’s between Rs 600 and 1800, and for Pragya, it’s between Rs 800 and 2400.”

But one cannot get the reward just by writing the examination. The criterion of 75% attendance applies here too. Also, one needs to be a top scorer to get the cash award.

“Cash or no cash, why should I learn Hindi for my superiors’ comfort while they, who are in Chennai, will not learn Tamil?” asked Manoj (name changed to protect his identity) an employee at the GST office in Chennai.

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A Joseph