B’luru activists rue lack of Kannada in govt hiring exams

Tomorrow is the last date to apply for 20,000 Union government jobs online, and the exams are being held only in English and Hindi

The lack of provision to take government recruitment exams in regional languages is now at the centre of a Twitter campaign by a Bengaluru activist.

For over 10 days, Arun Javgal has been tweeting about the SSC CGL Recruitment 2022 notification, issued on September 17 to fill up 20,000 vacancies in various Union government departments. October 8 is the deadline for online application.

These exams are conducted in English and Hindi and Javgal, a leading Kannada campaigner, feels the absence of Kannada puts local aspirants at a disadvantage. “More than 60% in Karnataka study in Kannada medium schools till Class 10,” he explains.

The option of Hindi, on the other hand, allows native Hindi speakers outside Karnataka to find jobs here, denting the employment prospects of locals further, he says. “A few years ago, out of 2,200-plus jobs in railways for the Mysore zone, not even 25 went to local candidates,” he says.

Javgal also referred to recent reports that of the 18,000 personnel recruited for Gramin Banking Service in Karnataka in the last four years, only 1,060 were people from Karnataka.

Babureddy N, a 30-year-old job aspirant from Vijayanagar, has studied in Kannada. He says he “naturally comprehends questions faster” in this tongue.

Lokesh N from Kengeri, who has been attempting banking and railways exams for four years, adds: “The IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) main exams feature a language/vocabulary test in English or Hindi for 40 marks. Clearly, it gives Hindi speakers an upper hand.” He has another complaint: “Sometimes, we get questions on Bollywood or Hindi writers and award winners. Native Hindi speakers can answer them better than us because they may be more familiar with these personalities.”

Javgal says general knowledge questions should be added from all languages and cultures, not just Hindi.

Likewise, activist Ganesh Chetan says the exams ought to be inclusive: “By keeping regional languages out, you are keeping access to exams out for more than 50% of India. This is not representative of India. If as a continent, Europe can conduct exams in different languages, why can’t India do it as a country?”

Recruitment of officials with knowledge of Kannada may also reduce friction, Javgal says and cites an example: “We have heard of disputes breaking out between farmers who have given their land for infrastructure projects and government officers. Farmers face a communication gap as the officers don’t know Kannada.”

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike plans to hold an offline protest on the issue, informs Javgal, who is its state organisation secretary.

MP on rural banking exams

G C Chandrashekhar, MP in Rajya Sabha representing Karnataka, spoke to Metrolife about the challenges in rural banking exams. “Before 2014, there was a clause that whoever had studied in Karnataka till Class 10 or could read and write Kannada should apply for rural banking exams. In 2014, the BJP government removed the clause and anybody could apply. From 2014 till now, people from Karnataka have lost over 24,000 jobs to this (change). Our demand is not only to bring back the clause for rural banking service but also allow all national institutional exams to be written in regional languages,” he said.

Chandrashekhar said he has raised the demand for inclusion of regional languages in rural banking exams several times in the parliament since 2019. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had agreed to look into his demand, Chandrashekhar recalled. “They have understood the problem and will act. I am hopeful,” he said.
He explained the fallout of not knowing the regional language in rural banking: “Farmers will not be able to communicate with the bank officer. This is their state, their land, their bank, their money, and they need to have a mediator (to talk)? He also informed that the Centre has made a provision to write these exams in 13 regional languages, including Kannada, but the implementation is “inconsistent”.

Support from TN leader
On Thursday, senior DMK leader and Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi retweeted one of Arun Javgal’s posts and wrote: “Indian Union’s sovereignty is rooted in its pluralism… trying to impose singularity on everything is going against the democratic spirit.”