Linguistic Policy in Banking Sector – A Case of Complete Neglect in Maharashtra (Updated 12.05.2018)

As in the case of any other business, in order to provide efficient and transparent service to the people spread across this vast multi-linguist, multi-cultured country, banks too have to try and understand the local language, culture and practices of the people and establish easy communication with the people. It is precisely with this objective that the Reserve Bank of India keeps issuing various instructions and guidelines to the scheduled banks, based on the constitution of India, as well as the country’s linguistic policy. However, the extent of implementation of the Reserve Bank’s instructions pertaining to ‘localisation’ varies from state to state and as we can see, the instructions are generally being ignored by the banks especially in Maharashtra.

Now under these circumstances, what can one do to ensure that the banks in the state of Maharashtra also fall in line with the language related legal provisions as they do in the other states? Just relying on statutory bodies such as the central and state governments as well as the Reserve Bank of India is not going to help. The common people must shed their own indifference and lassitude and must do something to make certain that the banks and other enforcing bodies pay heed to the rules and ensure their implementation in letter and spirit. Since we have to achieve this in a legitimate manner, we must try and understand the basic language related provisions in the various laws together with their objectives and goals. We must also properly understand the privileges of the local language and so as to be able to convince others about the same.

Since this article discusses the legal provisions about the need for the banks to communicate with the general public in the local language; we earnestly request the readers to circulate the article to as many friends as possible. With the help of the legal references discussed in the article, we can ensure that the banks comply with the legal obligations.

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Linguistic Policy in Banking Sector – A Case of Complete Neglect in Maharashtra

– Saleel Kulkarni

 

Introduction

The banking industry has seen considerable expansion in the last few years. Thanks to the large gamut of services that the Indian banks have been offering to fit the banking requirements and budget of the richest to the poorest, the banks have to cater to millions of customers spread across not only in the urban and semi-urban sectors but also in the rural sectors. As in the case of any other business, in order to provide efficient and transparent service to the people spread across this vast multi-linguist, multi-cultured country, banks too have to try and understand the local language, culture and practices of the people and establish easy communication with the people. It is precisely with this objective that the Reserve Bank of India keeps issuing various instructions and guidelines to the scheduled banks, based on the constitution of India, as well as the country’s linguistic policy. However, the extent of implementation of the Reserve Bank’s instructions pertaining to ‘localisation’ varies from state to state and as we can see, the instructions are generally being ignored by the banks especially in Maharashtra. This case is obviously similar to other similar regulations which are generally neglected in the state for which the main reason is the insensitivity of the state government and apathy as well as indifference of the local people towards subjects such as language and culture.

Now under these circumstances, what can one do to ensure that the banks in the state of Maharashtra also fall in line with the language related legal provisions as they do in the other states? Just relying on statutory bodies such as the central and state governments as well as the Reserve Bank of India is not going to help. The common people must shed their own indifference and lassitude and must do something to make certain that the banks and other enforcing bodies pay heed to the rules and ensure their implementation in letter and spirit. Since we have to achieve this in a legitimate manner, we must try and understand the basic language related provisions in the various laws together with their objectives and goals. We must also properly understand the privileges of the local language and so as to be able to convince others about the same.

Before we try to study the official language policy vis-à-vis the Indian Banking Industry, we first need to clearly understand the basic principles of our language policy as laid down by the Constitution of India together with the other statutes and rules formed in that context. The overall Official Language Policy as formulated by the Reserve Bank is based on these basic principles.

Overall Linguistic Policy based on the Constitution of India

1. Neither the Constitution of India nor any other Law has declared Hindi or any other language as the National Language of India. In short, India has no single National Language.
2. Instead of defining the National Language, the constitution has accorded special status to certain important state languages, which are listed in the eighth schedule of the constitution. Although not stated explicitly in the constitution or in any other statute, it is implied that status of each of the languages in the eighth schedule is no less than the National Language of India.
3. The constitution has recommended Hindi and English as the ‘official languages’ of the union of India. In this context, the meaning of the term ‘Official Language’ is limited and it means ‘the language to be used by the Central Government for its internal affairs and internal communication’, which in simpler words, means that it is the internal ‘office language’ of the Central Government. However, as far as the communication of the central government with the public at large is concerned, these two languages do not enjoy even the slightest importance over and above the languages recognised by the constitution in its eighth schedule. (Incidentally, since English is not included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, its legal status is even below all the Indian languages specified in the schedule.)
4. The central government has offices spread all across the different linguistic states of the country. With a view to ensuring smooth and efficient communication with the public, the central government has formulated the “Three Language Formula” (TLF in short) and made it applicable to the various departments, public sector undertakings and institutions of the central government. The formula has accorded the highest priority to the official local language, which is followed by Hindi and then English. It clearly means that as per the “Three Language Formula”, in any state, the concerned officers of the central government must accord the highest priority and preference to the state language while communicating with the public. In importance and priority, the Hindi and English languages come after the local state language.
5. The makers of the constitution granted every state the right to select their official language of the state. The language recognised as the official language of the state is not only meant for the internal affairs of the state government but the same is also expected to be deployed for the communication with the general public of the state.
6. Democracy is sometimes described as the system of governance by the people, of the people and for the people. If such a system does not carry out governance in the language of the local people and is not concerned with the culture of the local people, the basic principle of democracy itself stands defeated. In fact, this was a major criterion due to which the legal stalwarts opted for the principle of linguistic states. In a democratic system, the common man must be able to transact with ease, all the daily and common matters related to his social life in the language of the state. For such matters, if the common man is made to depend on a language of some other state or that of some another country; it is certainly a disgrace to the country that takes pride in calling itself the largest democracy in the world. This is the litmus test of the democratic system in any country. Hence, to ensure democracy in the real sense of the word, the governments (Central or State) must communicate with the common people in the local language of the state. Incidentally, this principle is generally observed, in states of India other than Maharashtra.
7. The Supreme Court too has consistently delivered judgments in line with the above principle.

In a writ petition filed against the decision of the Government of Karnataka of making the Kannada language compulsory in the schools, the Supreme Court, while supporting the State Government, has noted: “The purpose and object of these linguistic states is to provide with greater facility, the development of the people of that area educationally, socially and culturally, in the language of that region.”

While rejecting the writ petition filed against the decision of the Government of Maharashtra of making study of the Marathi language compulsory for the standards V to X in the schools, the Supreme Court observed: “In our view, the resistance to learn the regional language will lead to alienation from the main stream of life, resulting in linguistic fragmentation within the state, which is an anathema to national integration.”

From the foregoing, it is very clear that there is nothing illegitimate or unethical about the principle of granting the highest importance to the state language and using the same with importance and priority for general communication in the state. In fact, it is exactly in line with the basic concepts and objectives of the constitution of the country.

Instructions and Guidelines Issued by the Reserve Bank to the Scheduled Banks

In the light of the foregoing, let us now study the instructions issued by the Reserve Bank of India. In this context, the most important one is the Master Circular on Customer Service (No. RBI/2008-09/261 DBOD No. Leg. BC. 75/09.07.005/2008-09 dated 03 November 2008) addressed to ‘All Scheduled Commercial Banks (Excluding RRBs)’.

The RBI says, “Reserve Bank has been time and again issuing various instructions / guidelines in the area of customer service to bring about improvements in the quality of customer service in banks and their branches. In order to have all current instructions on the subject at one place, we have compiled many of the important instructions issued by us in the form of a Master Circular”.

Let us now have a closer look at this circular and examine some of its important provisions which are reproduced below. It is quite evident that in tune with the three language formula of the central government, the RBI too has recommended various schemes based on the usage of the local language in order to communicate with the general public of the state in order to provide information as well as proper and quick disposal of customer grievances. (The Banks, especially when they are expected to give special emphasis on ‘Financial Inclusion’ (see point 4 below), cannot afford to presume that every common approaching them must be conversant with English, which is the language of another country and/or Hindi, which is the language of another state.) However, in Maharashtra, apparently such instructions are not complied with satisfactorily in letter and spirit. We, the common people, must consider it as our duty to lodge written complaints about such aberrations with the concerned bank itself and make them aware of their legitimate duty after quoting the relative paragraph number of the above circular issued by the RBI. If the bank fails to respond and correct the anomaly, we should complain to the Reserve Bank itself against the non-compliance. The banks are generally careful not to offend the RBI since the RBI has the authority to penalise the erring banks for non-compliance of instructions.

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The complete article is available at the following link.

Amrutmanthan : Linguistic Policy in Banking Sector-A Case of Complete Neglect in Maharashtra_V2_180512

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The following links also provide questionnaires to be presented before the Scheduled banks to verify their level of compliance with the Three-Language Formula (TLF). If we do not get satisfactory response to the questionnaire, we can approach the Banking Ombudsman to force the banks to fall in line.

The questionnaires in English are available at these links.

a. Sample letters :

• Questionnaire for the Nationalised Banks.

Amrutmanthan_Banking Questionnaire_Letter under RTI for Nationalised Banks_100527

• Questionnaire for the rest of the Scheduled Banks.

Amrutmanthan_Banking Questionnaire_Letter to other than Public Sector Banks_100527

 

b. List of Scheduled Commercial Banks

Amrutmanthan_List of Scheduled Commercial Banks_100601

Please do carefully go through all this information.

Note: Please remember that the TLF of the RBI is binding on ALL the Scheduled Banks, including the Indian Private Banks as well as Foreign Banks scheduled by the RBI for carrying out banking operations in India.

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– Amrutyatri Team

Note: Those who are interested in this subject, may also read the following articles :

Hindi, the National Language – Misinformation or Disinformation? –}} http://wp.me/pzBjo-fr

Translation of the original letter obtained under RTI: अमृतमंथन-३_Hindi is not the National Language_Admission by Central Govt_English Translation of the Letter_291209 .

पन्हाळा: एक अनुभव. मराठी माणसाची अधोगती – स्वाभिमान ते निरभिमान  –}}  https://wp.me/pzBjo-7A

आपल्या बॅंकेचे मूल्यांकन करून बॅंकेला जाब विचारण्यासाठी प्रश्नावली  –}}  https://wp.me/pzBjo-mV

Hindi Will Destroy Marathi Language, Culture and Identity in Mumbai and Maharashtra  (Tamil Tribune) –}} http://wp.me/pzBjo-q7

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