Thirty percent files still in English; use of Malayalam as official language not materializing in secretariat 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even though it has been seven years since Malayalam was made the official language, 30 percent of the files in the secretariat are handled in English. This is when files in other offices are entirely in Malayalam. Dr V Venu had suggested that orders and circulars should be translated into Malayalam when he took charge as the Chief Secretary.

Orders are still in English in important departments like Finance, Home Affairs and Law. 40 percent of the files are in English in the legal, finance and home departments of the secretariat. The practice in the Secretariat is to write notes in Malayalam for Malayalam files and in English for English files. As the information in the English file can be copied from the e-office software, it is not translated into Malayalam. Notes in Malayalam are given in English as many of the department heads are non-Malayalis. Although the government had proposed that a Malayalam translation of the English orders should be prepared, it was not implemented.

Court orders are also in English. In 2014, the Justice Narendran Committee had suggested that important orders and notifications should be translated into Malayalam, printed and distributed free of cost.

The Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department has submitted a recommendation to the government to convert the orders and regulations into Malayalam. There should be clarity as to which orders must be issued in English. Codes and regulations should be published in simple Malayalam. Questions for departmental tests should be bilingual (Malayalam and English). It is also recommended that mandatory training in Malayalam and English computer typing should be given to officers who are more than two years away from retirement.