SSC for Central armed services test in regional languages

Not many takers for quota from State, says Commission chief

Stating that the move might help non-Hindi speaking candidates perform better, he said: “The ministry may not have any objection to conduct the tri-lingual (English, Hindi and regional language) written tests as it depends upon SSC’s willingness and capability to print the question papers in three languages.”

However, for selection to other group B and C posts under various central government departments, the Commission cannot adopt this method as they are all-India selection processes.

“In the case of the armed forces, states have a fixed number of vacancies and thereby tri-lingual tests could be adopted,” Raghupathy said.

Interacting with the media here, he pointed out that the number of applications from Karnataka, especially for the Central armed forces, are less resulting in fewer people getting selected.

“If more people apply, more will get selected,” he said, revealing that the selection-application ratio in Karnataka (1:36) is higher than the national average of 1:42.

The issue of language came up when the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) K Arkesh pointed out that candidates in Karnataka were not conversant with Hindi and were handicapped to deal with English.

Noting that the number of candidates from Karnataka seeking jobs in the armed forces has increased from about 8,000 to 60,000 in three years, Raghupathy said: “But, this is not enough to fill the quota meant for Karnataka, as only a small portion of the candidates pass all the parameters.”

During 2010-11, the Commission had advertised for 52,500 posts of constable (general duty) and Karnataka’s quota was 2,815. Only 946 candidates from Karnataka got selected, forcing the Commission to divert the remaining vacancies to other states.

Fresh recruitment

The commission will hold the selection process this December for about 90,000 posts in the central armed forces––Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal and Assam Rifles––and Karnataka’s quota is 1,522 posts.

Stressing that more people from the State must apply, Raghupathy said that the minimum educational qualification is SSLC.