In 2019, widespread protests led to the postal exam being cancelled after it was only being offered in English and Hindi. Despite that, the Centre seems to be risking facing the wrath of several communities again by offering the exam this year again in only two languages. Some Tamil Nadu politicians have already raised their voices against the decision.
According to the application form for the PO and Railway Mail Service accountant examination to be held on February 14, the department asks the applicants the language in which they desire to write the exam and only offer English and Hind as the options. Previously, the exam was offered in 15 languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
In 2019, the department had issued different guidelines three days before the exam but protests especially from Tamil Nadu forced them to cancel the exam. VCK President and Member of Parliament Thol Thirumavalavan criticised the centre for this move. He took to Twitter to express his displeasure, “Applications for accountants in the postal department have been announced and it is going to be conducted only in Hindi and English. The Union government should conduct this exam in regional languages also, including Tamil. The exam should not be conducted until such a notification is issued,” the MP demanded.
DMK leader and MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian also expressed her opposition, “Despite its promises, the Central government has categorically denied candidates the chance to write their postal exams in Tamil and other regional languages. I demand that the Central government come through with its assurances and conduct the exams in Tamil and other regional languages.”
CPI leader and MP Su Venkatesan has also written to the Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in this regard and demanded an issuance of a fresh notification or corrigendum which included Tamil as an option for the exam. He said that the new rule went against the assurance given by the High Court and the government in 2019. PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss also said he was shocked by the news, “It is wrong that Tamil has been neglected again in the Postal Department exams. While most competitive exams are being conducted in Tamil, the central government should come forward to conduct the postal exams also in Tamil!”
In 2016, there had been a postal recruitment scam where candidates from Haryana, Maharashtra and Punjab had scored higher marks in the Tamil exam than Tamil candidates themselves. The case had been taken up by the CBI.
