5-member ministerial panel to review and include local languages in JTET

Ranchi: State govt has constituted a five-member high-powered ministerial committee to review and recommend the inclusion of regional and local languages for the Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test (JTET).The move comes amid a brewing dissent within the ruling coalition, particularly from Congress ministers, over the exclusion of Magahi, Angika, Bhojpuri and a few other languages from the current JTET rules and framework. As per the notification from the personnel department, dated May 5, which was made public on Friday, finance minister and senior Congress MLA from Chattarpur, Radha Krishna Kishore, is the convener of the committee. Other members included rural development minister and Congress MLA Deepika Pandey Singh, minister for urban development Sudivya Kumar, drinking water and sanitation minister Yogendra Prasad, both from JMM, and RJD's Godda MLA and labour minister Sanjay Yadav. "The panel is tasked with studying district-wise linguistic demographics and recommend to govt for inclusion/deletion for further action at the earliest," read the notification, a copy of which is with TOI. The school education and literacy department will serve as the nodal agency for the committee, which is expected to submit its report "at the earliest".On April 28, the Hemant Soren-led cabinet passed the new JTET rules after they failed to get through earlier that month due to objections raised by both Kishore and Pandey. During the April 28 meeting, Kishore was absent owing to health issues. Expressing her displeasure, Pandey had on April 15 submitted a memorandum to the CM demanding the inclusion of Angika, Santhali, Magahi, Maithili, Kudmali and Kurukh languages in JTET. "In districts like Godda within Santhal Pargana, there is a huge population of Angika and Santhali speakers. Their inclusion is vital to ensure the participation of local youths in JTET," she had said. This is not the first time the Soren govt has walked a tightrope over the language issue. In 2022, the state witnessed widespread protests, particularly in Dhanbad and Bokaro, after Bhojpuri and Magahi were removed from the list of regional languages for district-level competitive exams. The agitation forced the govt to rethink its "locals first" policy, which critics argued was being used to allegedly marginalise certain linguistic groups. Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC), which conducts JTET, has begun inviting applications from April 21 for the test, dates of which are still to be announced. The application window will be open till May 21.
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