‘Smart for Tamilians to learn Hindi’: Sridhar Vembu amid Centre-Tamil Nadu language war

As Tamil Nadu and the Central governments clash over language war over the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and the three-language policy, Zoho chief scientist Sridhar Vembu urged Tamil-speaking engineers and entrepreneurs to learn Hindi for business growth.

Speaking for Zoho and the company engineers working closely with clients in Delhi and Mumbai, Sridhar Vembu said not knowing the language is a disadvantage for engineers working in rural parts of Tamil Nadu, stressing that it is “smart to learn Hindi”.

“As Zoho grows rapidly in India, we have rural engineers in Tamil Nadu working closely with customers in Mumbai and Delhi - so much of our business is driven form these cities and from Gujarat. Rural jobs in Tamil Nadu depend on us serving those customers well. Not knowing Hindi is often a serious handicap for us in Tamil Nadu,” Sridhar Vembu said.

“It is smart for us to learn Hindi. I have learned to read Hindi haltingly in the last 5 years and I can now understand about 20% of what is spoken,” Sridhar Vembu said, adding, “As India is a fast growing economy, engineers and entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu will be smart to learn Hindi.”

The Zoho chief scientist ended the post with “ignore the politics, let us learn the language! Aayiye Hindi seekhein (let's learn Hindi).”

Sridhar Vembu's remarks come as DMK’s Sankarankovil MLA his supporters blackened Hindi words on railway station name boards at Sankarankovil, Kadayanallur and Pavoorchatram.

The Hindi imposition row

The language war started after the Tamil Nadu government alleged that the Centre did not allocate funds to the state over no NEP implementation. While Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has rejected the “Hindi imposition” through NEP implementation allegations, he has asserted that the Centre is committed to implementing the education policy across the country.

Dharmendra Pradhan said in Delhi that the NEP does not impose Hindi or any other language on students in the DMK-ruled state “but what is wrong if a student in Tamil Nadu learns multilingual aspect in education?”

“It can be Tamil, English and other Indian languages,” Pradhan said, adding, “There is no imposition of Hindi or any other language on them. Some friends in Tamil Nadu are doing politics. But the Indian government is committed to implementing NEP and there are certain conditions with NEP.”