Schools that violate the law would attract hefty fines, says Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The Kerala government has promulgated an ordinance to make teaching of Malayalam mandatory in all schools in the State.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting that the new law will be applicable to all schools regardless of the syllabus they followed.

Schools that violated the law would attract hefty fines. Schools should not put up boards or conduct campaigns against speaking Malayalam, he said.

The government also issued an ordinance to streamline admissions to private medical colleges. Under the provisions of the ordinance, the government would constitute a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge to fix the fees and admission norms, he said.

Malayalam as official language

The usage of Malayalam as official language has been made compulsory in all government offices from May 1.

A press release issued here on Monday said this would be applicable to quasi-government institutions, public sector undertakings, autonomous institutions and institutions in the cooperative sector.

A declaration to this effect was made by Mr. Vijayan here on Monday.

Mr. Vijayan said this during a high-level meeting on the official language on Monday.