Now, fishing boats christened in Hindi

KOCHI: The home ministry circular seeking to promote the use of Hindi in offices and on official social media accounts may have drawn flak, but fishing boat owners in Ernakulam are busy writing names of their boats in Hindi following a recent directive from the fisheries department.
Nearly 70 motorized country boats at Kalamukku Fishing Harbour, Vypeen, have got the name of their boat painted in Hindi, besides the usual English and Malayalam.They said a notice in this regard was issued nearly four months ago following a joint meeting of the fisheries department and Coast Guard. As per unofficial statistics, there are about 2,300 big fishing boats and 12,000 motorized country boats in the state.
"Six months ago, we protested a proposal by the Coast Guard to write the name of our boats in Hindi and it was dropped. The latest circular has been issued by the fisheries department. We are surprised why authorities insist on writing the names in Hindi when we have already done so in English. It wasn't easy to get artists who can write in Hindi," said Joseph Xavier Kalapurakkal, general secretary, Fishing Boat Owners' Association. He added that though some may have complied fearing authorities' action, no complaint has been received yet. Boat owners said that as far as they knew, only boats in Ernakulam were asked to write names in Hindi.
However, the fisheries department denied having issued any such circular. "As per the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Indian Ships) Rules, shipping boats should mandatorily have names in English, Hindi and the regional language. Action can be taken against violators, but we haven't taken action against anyone," said a senior official with the state fisheries department.
An official with the department said the Coast Guard and Navy have been asking boat owners to write the names in Hindi for safety reasons. "Many fishermen from the state now go fishing beyond the territorial waters. As most fishermen from other states know Hindi, they will be able to identify the boats in the event of an accident," said P V Parameswaran, assistant director, fisheries department.
When contacted, Coast Guard and Navy officials said they have not issued any directive in this regard.