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Jaipur’s civic portal complaint section ditches official jargon for ultra-relatable Hindi; internet goes gaga
Jaipur Nagar Nigam (JMC)’s website has caught the internet’s eye for taking a surprisingly unfiltered route with its online grievance system.
When navigating portals of municipal councils, users usually expect a maze of bureaucratic terminology that requires a lot of decoding. But the language used by Jaipur Nagar Nigam (JMC)’s website has caught the internet’s eye for taking a surprisingly unfiltered route with its online grievance system. Rather than sticking to grammatically correct English or Hindi, the Jaipur civic body’s portal features straightforward, everyday Hinglish phrasing under its complaint sub-categories. Want to report an influx of stray dogs? One option plainly states: “Kutte bahut ho gaye hain.” Need to flag a rabid animal? You can select: “Kutta pagal ho gaya hai pakadwana hai.” Other options for animal casualties include “Billi mar gayi hai” and “Suwar mar gaya hai.”
As soon as a grab from the council’s website was shared by an X user @ravihanda, the post went viral (10.5K likes) with social media users quickly picking up the language phrasing. While many found it the candid and commonsensical language quite refreshing and easy for a local to navigate, some have objected to use of certain words as derogatory.
The question is how does Delhi do it? While Jaipur’s portal opts for direct everyday phrasing, Delhiites filing complaints on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) system can experience a far more standard, textbook process. Citizens reporting veterinary issues on the MCD portal navigate standard bureaucratic options like ‘Removal of dead animals’, ‘Stray monkeys’, or ‘Stray cattle/pigs’. Safe to say, Delhi’s civic reporting remains strictly business as usual.
