‘Not colonial sir, madam’, Kerala Congress wants official communication to use Malayalam terms

Following example of Mathur gram panchayat, which uses Malayalam terms like 'chetta' (brother) & 'chechi' (sister), state party chief K Sudhakaran says all panchayats headed by party will do the same.

File photo of Kerala Congress Chief K Sudhakaran | ANI

New Delhi: The Kerala Congress is all set to drop the use of ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ from official communications and transactions of Congress-ruled local governing bodies in the state, choosing to adopt a more familiar form of address instead.

Announcing the decision Sunday, Kerala Congress chief K Sudhakaran lauded Palakkad’s Mathur gram panchayat, which had been the one to initiate this style of communication in the state from 1 September, and said that officials will henceforth either be addressed by their names, or as ‘chetta’ (Malayalam word for elder brother), or ‘chechi’ (elder sister).

“Those who work in government institutions and the people’s representatives are ultimately public servants. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has decided to implement this decision in Kerala as a whole, upholding that principle,” Sudhakaran explained in a Facebook post.

Terming the decision taken by the Mathur Panchayat “revolutionary”, the Kerala Congress chief further wrote that addresses like ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ were reminders of a colonial past and were “anti-democratic”. Sudhakaran also observed that words like apekshikunnu (requested) and abhyarthikunnu (appealed) should not be used. Instead, one should use avaksham unnayikunnu (I demand) and thalparyapedunnu (I desire). Application forms currently titled ‘apeksha‘ forms will now be known as ‘avakasha pathrika‘ (documents of rights).

Speaking to ThePrint, the president of Mathur panchayat Pravitha Muralidharan said that this was a collective decision by the panchayat, as well as village members.

“Our village is a close-knit community and we all know each other. Thus we felt uncomfortable addressing each other as ‘sir/madam’. So we took this decision unanimously, in consultation with all members, as well as village residents. Other villages in the state, such as Ambalappuzha, Thrissur, and Kottayam have also implemented similar decisions after being inspired by us,” Muralidharan told ThePrint over the phone.

‘To restore democracy, Gandhi’s gram swaraj’

Sudhakaran added in the Facebook post that Congress’ aim in adopting the Mathur gram panchayat’s communication style was to achieve complete decentralisation in the state.

“Gandhiji’s dream of saving the people from authoritarian governments was brought about by the Congress through the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution. The Congress is trying to redefine Grama swaraj in line with modern democratic concepts,” he said.

District presidents have been instructed to implement the change in their respective areas, Sudhakaran added.

Kerala has 1,200 local self-governing bodies, of which 941 are gram panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 87 municipalities, and six municipal corporations. The  Congress-led United Democratic Front currently rules in 321 gram panchayats in the state.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)