India: Linguistic skill needs prod Kerala policemen to learn Hindi

Thiruvananthapuram: India’s national language Hindi is hardly spoken in Kerala, particularly in its rural heartlands. But a pressing need for multilingual skills while dealing with visitors and villains alike from other states has prompted policemen in Erumely and Manimala in Kottayam district to pick up the language skills.

The idea of imparting a knowledge in spoken Hindi to policemen is credited to circle inspector Abdul Rahim. Policemen in Erumely and Manimala have to interact frequently with tens of thousands of visitors from other states during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku seasons that are part of the famed pilgrimage to the Hindu shrine of Sabarimala.

While the Sabarimala temple is in Pathanamthitta district, Erumely is a key transit point on the route and thousands of pilgrims commute through Manimala en route to Erumely and Sabarimala.

Hindi will also stand the policemen in good stead in dealing with criminals from other states. Over the past decade, there has been a massive influx of labourers into Kerala from northern states, particularly Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.

A number of crimes involving labourers from other states are being reported in Kerala and Hindi skills for policemen are considered inevitable to deal with those involved in such crimes. The sharp growth in numbers of Hindi-speaking labourers has also led to a basic knowledge of Hindi among shop keepers in different parts of Kerala, while migrant workers in the state have picked up a working knowledge of Malayalam.