The decision comes days after several South politicians called out the Centre for discriminating against regional languages.
The examination in 13 regional languages, in addition to Hindi and English, will be conducted from 1 January, 2024.
In the face of widespread anger over conducting the exam to hire general duty constables for the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) only in English and Hindi, the Centre on Saturday, 15 April, said that the exam would now be conducted in 13 regional languages as well.
Hailing it as a “historic decision” taken at the initiative of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, an official statement said the move would give impetus to the participation of local youths in the CAPFs and encourage regional languages.
The CAPFs are the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and the National Security Guard (NSG).
A recent notification for the recruitment of 1.29 lakh constables had raised hackles in many non-Hindi-speaking states as it put youth there at a disadvantage vis-a-vis native Hindi speakers.
Political parties, especially from the southern states, called out the Centre for yet another attempt at imposing Hindi on non-Hindi speakers.
The examination can now be written in 13 regional languages, in addition to Hindi and English, and will be conducted from 1 January, 2024.
“In a landmark decision under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, (the) Ministry of Home Affairs has approved conducting constable (general duty) examination for CAPFs in 13 regional languages, in addition to Hindi and English,” the official statement said.
In a historic decision, MHA decides to conduct the Constable (GD) CAPF exams in 13 regional languages also. It will give an impetus to participation of local youth in CAPFs.
The decision reflects PM @narendramodi Ji's commitment to developing and encouraging regional languages. pic.twitter.com/Dd1iNWzyL5
— गृहमंत्री कार्यालय, HMO India (@HMOIndia) April 15, 2023
In addition to Hindi and English, the question paper will be set in 13 regional languages — Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Urdu, Punjabi, Manipuri, and Konkani.
The announcement comes days after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to Shah, calling him to include Tamil as a language for the written exam in the recruitment for CRPF personnel.
The chief minister told Shah, in his letter, that the Centre’s notification that the exam could be written only in English and Hindi made the aspirants from Tamil Nadu unable to attempt the test in their mother tongue in their “native state”.
“To put it simply, this CRPF notification is against the interests of those applying from Tamil Nadu. This is not only unilateral but amounts to being discriminatory,” the release quoted the chief minister as telling Shah.
As a result of my letter to Hon @AmitShah, the Union Govt has announced that it would conduct the CAPF exams in all state languages.
I wholeheartedly welcome this decision & reiterate our demand to provide Question Papers in Tamil & other state languages in all Union Govt exams. https://t.co/3uiihPKdum
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) April 15, 2023
The Ministry of Home Affairs said that the decision will result in lakhs of aspirants taking the examination in their mother tongue or regional language, thus improving their selection prospects.
The ministry and the Staff Selection Commission will sign an addendum to the existing Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the conduct of the examination in multiple Indian languages, the statement said.
The state governments and Union Territory administrations are expected to launch a campaign to encourage local youths to use this opportunity of taking the examination in their mother tongue and to participate in large numbers to make a career serving the country, the statement said.
The ministry, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the guidance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is fully committed to encourage use and development of regional languages, it said.
On 7 April, Telangana IT and Urban Affairs Minister KT Rama Rao wrote to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah asking him include Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and other official languages in the CRPF recruitment notification so that youth studying in regional languages get equal opportunities without any discrimination.
“Competitive exams are being held only in English and Hindi, which is a serious disadvantage to students who did not study in English medium or are not from Hindi-speaking States,” KTR pointed out.
While noting that the National Recruitment Agency decided to facilitate a Common Eligibility Test (NRA-CET) to replace multiple examinations and conduct them in the 12 official Indian languages, KTR said, “However, it’s not being implemented properly, including in the CRPF recruitment notification.”
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah, on 10 April, opposed the decision of the CRPF to conduct its recruitment examination only in Hindi and English, and not in Kannada.
Terming it an injustice to candidates from non-Hindi speaking states like Karnataka, the former chief minister said that the “double-engine” government of the BJP had “failed” the state’s aspirants.
Stating that languages did not reflect knowledge and were just a medium of communication, he said that though candidates who studied in Kannada-medium institutions were smart, they might be unable to clear the exams because of the language barrier.
“This is injustice towards our youth,” he tweeted.
(With PTI inputs)
May 09, 2024
May 09, 2024
May 09, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 08, 2024
