Mathur Grama Panchayat in Palakkad has become the first panchayat in Kerala to prohibit the use of the honorifics 'sir' and 'madam'. Anyone visiting the panchayat office need not address the elected representatives or office staff as 'sir' or 'madam'.
These honorifics should also not be used in the letters sent to senior functionaries of the panchayat asking for services. And while asking for services, say an ownership certificate or an income or caste certificate or even financial assistance, any words that suggest that the applicant is seeking a favour or is requesting ('apekshikkunnu', 'abhyarthikkunnu') should be avoided. Instead, words that reflect citizen's rights should be used. For instance, "I demand a certificate... or 'I am interested in financial support..."
Official application forms are riddled with words that refuse to acknowledge the post-Independence reality of the primacy of the citizen. To change this, Mathur Panchayat will reprint its official application forms, 'apeksha form' in Malayalam, as 'avakasha pathrika' (rights certificate).
The decisions were taken at the governing council meeting of the panchayat held on August 31. "If any service is held back simply because an individual refused to call 'sir' or 'madam', she can complain directly to me," said Pravitha Muralidharan, Mathur Panchayat President.
Pravitha said that she had often felt odd when old people come before her, call her 'madam' and request help. "They are only asking for what is rightfully theirs. They don't have to bow before us for their entitlements," Pravitha said. "Moreover, it is a colonial habit. It is high time we reconsider the use of such words that sustain a master-slave mindset. In a democracy, people are the masters," she said.
In an order released on August 31, the Panchayat President said: "There is no need for anyone coming to the panchayat office to call governing council members or officials 'sir'. We have asked the Official Languages Department for an alternate word. Till then, citizens can call us either by our name or by the name of the post we hold."
Steps have already begun to prominently place the names and posts of officials and governing council members on their tables.
"We announced the decision after taking the officials also into confidence. They too felt it was the right thing to do," said P R Prasad, the vice president of the panchayat. Though the 16-member panchayat is ruled by the Congress, the decision has the support of its seven CPM members and its only BJP member, Vinoc C K of Anikode ward.
A large and striking announcement, words in black font over yellow background, has already been pasted on the notice board of the panchayat office. "We have also passed on the information through our WhatsApp groups and clubs. Members will also pass on the information personally in their respective wards," the vice president said.
Mathur Panchayat's 'No Sir' decision is also the triumph of a public movement, triggered by a WhatsApp group called 'Sauhruda Bhasha Group', to sanitise official communication of the language of subjugation. colonial terms of enslavement from Kerala's official language.
"We have sent notices to other panchayats in Palakkad also, asking that they change official communication. We are sure that they too, like Mathur, will take the progressive step," said Boban Mattumantha, the young activist spearheading this communication revolution.
The Official Languages Department, on the basis of a complaint filed by Boban, had in early August asked the Palakkad sub-collector to use friendly terms as much as possible in letters that communicate with the public.
