BJP govt 'going beyond limits' in imposing Hindi, says TN CM, slams naming arch as 'Kartavya Dwar'
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday lashed out at the BJP government at the Centre allegedly for "going beyond limits" in imposing Hindi and condemned the move to name the Tiruchirappalli railway divisional office entrance arch in that language.
The entrance arch of the railway divisional office, Tiruchirappalli, was named 'Kartavya Dwar' (Gate of Duty) recently, sparking a political row on language imposition in the state.
Taking strong exception to it, the chief minister claimed that the Union BJP government has embarked on a "vile" Hindi imposition of writing the Hindi name in Tamil and English under the pretext of promoting "one language, three scripts."
"They have written Kartavya Dwar at the entrance arch of the Tiruchirappalli division office of the Railways. The attempt to impose Hindi on Tamil and English names should be abandoned and proper Tamil names should be included immediately," Stalin said in a post on the social media platform ‘X.’
Otherwise, the BJP government will have to feel the heat of the Tamils, he warned.
The Centre had already imposed the name 'Bhavishya Nidhi Bhavan' for the Provident Fund Offices (EPFO) and was giving Sanskrit names in English for the new criminal laws.
"The name of the Union Water Resources Ministry has become 'Jal Shakti' and the 100 days employment guarantee scheme named after Mahatma Gandhi was renamed. The bitterness and arrogance is increasing," he pointed out.
"We need to teach these people who are trying to undermine the self-respect of Tamils a proper lesson," Stalin, who is the president of the DMK, said.
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Hyderabad retired professor in coma left without pension; family struggles to pay Rs 25 lakh bills
Hyderabad: A 64-year-old retired professor from Osmania University, Mohammad Ansari, is battling for life in a coma while his family struggles to meet mounting medical expenses due to an unresolved pension dispute.
According to The Times of India, Prof. Ansari, a former linguistics teacher, fell critically ill about 10 days ago due to kidney and lung complications and slipped into a coma.
His family has already spent nearly Rs 25 lakh on treatment, with daily hospital expenses ranging between Rs 30,000 and 40,000.
"We have spent about Rs 25 lakh so far. The hospital is charging between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 daily. We don't have any money left. We can only afford a rehabilitation centre," said Fayyaz Ansari, brother of the retired Osmania University professor. He said that his brother had been running from pillar to post since 1996 to clear the anomalies in his service, but failed in his efforts.
Though he began working with the university in 1997 as part-time faculty and later became regular staff, the university reportedly agreed to consider his pension eligibility only from 2003, which he contested.
The family claims that despite court directions and intervention by an Assembly committee, the university did not recognise his service from 1996 for pension benefits.
"Despite selection, he was not given joining orders. He was forced to work as a part-time faculty. In 2003, after approaching the minority commission, the HC and the assembly, he finally got orders to join as full-time faculty," Fayyaz said.
Incidentally, even the LIC-linked pension, which was offered to those not eligible under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), was denied to him despite premiums being deducted for close to 15 years on the grounds that he already has OPS. The total amount paid towards the pension was returned in 2018.
Students and well-wishers have begun crowdfunding to support his treatment. Members of the Osmania University Students’ Joint Action (JAC) Committee urged authorities to intervene and release his pending benefits or arrange financial assistance.
The issue was also raised in the Assembly by CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao.
However, university officials maintain that pension from 1996 cannot be granted. Registrar G. Naresh Reddy said, "He was not on the varsity rolls then. How can it be considered? In fact, this issue was placed before the executive council and the govt multiple times and it was rejected."
He said that when it comes to the LIC-linked pension, it is the govt that has kept it in abeyance and that, along with Ansari, 10 other faculty members, who joined between 2001 and 2004, were waiting for it to be resolved.
