Hundreds of students are set to protest at Freedom Park on Tuesday, February 18, alleging that a disproportionate number of Kannada-medium candidates have failed the gazetted probationary officers’ recruitment exam conducted by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).
The candidates, backed by Kannada activists and writers, have demanded that the government withhold the results published on February 10, citing multiple errors in the Kannada version of the question paper, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
Senior writer Baragur Ramachandrappa has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in this regard, pointing out that only 15 to 20% of students who wrote the exam in Kannada had passed, raising concerns over discrimination against Kannada-medium students. The Kannada Development Authority (KDA) Chairman Purushothama Bilimale said that the authority would take up this issue with the state government.
Bilimale also questioned KPSC’s approach, saying “KPSC should have involved the State’s translation department to ensure accuracy. If this continues, we may have to suggest that the responsibility of conducting these exams be handed over to the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA),” he said.
The controversy began with the preliminary exam held on August 27, 2024, for the recruitment of 384 gazetted probationary officers. The Kannada version of the question paper was alleged to have multiple errors due to a flawed translation from English, sparking protests from students.
Acknowledging the issue, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered a re-exam, which was conducted on December 29, 2024. However, candidates once again found several errors in the Kannada version, making many questions incomprehensible. Despite protests in December over the same issue, the KPSC went ahead and published the results without addressing the grievances, the candidates said, according to a report by The New Indian Express.
In his letter to the CM, Prof Ramachandrappa has demanded an inquiry into why Kannada-medium students have disproportionately failed the exam. “Beyond the pass percentage, the key issue is the fundamental flaws in the preparation of the Kannada question paper. The process itself is wrong — question papers in Karnataka should be set in Kannada first and then translated into English, not the other way around,” he wrote.
The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), which has announced the February 18 protest, also criticised the repeated errors. “The government seems to have not learned its lesson from past mistakes. We had demanded that the question paper be prepared in Kannada first and then translated into English, but due to official negligence, the reverse happened again. The incorrect translation has led to confusion and errors,” KRV’s Arun Javagal said. The KRV has demanded that the government withhold the results and take strict action against the officials responsible for the flawed translations.
