The Maharashtra government on Sunday launched an awareness campaign urging people to use the Indian greeting ‘Vande Mataram’ while receiving phone calls instead of the English ‘hello’.
The move comes a day after the State General Administration Department issued a Government Resolution (GR) making it mandatory for all employees working in government and government-funded institutions to use ‘Vande Mataram’ instead of ‘hello’ while receiving telephone or mobile phone calls from citizens or government officials.
Launching the campaign, State Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, speaking in Wardha district said, “ `Vande Mataram’ means we are bowing before our mother. Hence, it is our appeal to the people to use this instead of ‘hello’.”
