Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim will write to the Metro Railway general manager, urging him to engage workers at the metro booking counters and gates who will understand Bengali and won't discriminate between Bengali and Hindi-speaking commuters. KMC will also approach all other central and state govt establishments to engage employees who are well conversant in Bengali. Hakim said he would also take up the matter with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who also heads the state information and culture wing.
Hakim was responding to an appeal from the Trinamool Congress Councillor, Arup Chakraborty, to ensure that Bengali-speaking metro commuters are not harassed, especially after the alleged harassment of such a commuter at Howrah Metro station on Tuesday. An argument broke out there allegedly between an employee at the booking counter and a passenger, over language. The quarrel snowballed into a Bengali-non-Bengali dispute. However, later the Metro authorities conducted a suo-moto inquiry and found that the allegations were false.
Chakraborty said, at a time when KMC is making Bengali mandatory for signboards of business establishments, govt offices should recognise the feeling of Bengali-speaking citizens. The mayor later said: "Anyone may speak in Hindi or English in govt offices — that is welcome. But when someone wants to express oneself in Bengali, employees should be trained to cater to their needs."
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