No immediate solution to Malayalam crisis

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the demand for option to write all the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC)

examinations

in

Malayalam

is gathering momentum, Monday’s scheduled talk between chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the

PSC

officials is unlikely to find an immediate or concrete solution for the issue.


Though CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in his recent Facebook post, has urged the government and the PSC to look for a transition in a phased manner, the government will not be able to give a clear direction to the PSC in favour of the demand. Such a decision involves guaranteeing error-free questions papers and protection of the secrecy of exams, which will be a tough task in the current scenario, according to sources in the PSC.

Besides, amending PSC’s special rules and exam scheme approved by the general administration department (GAD) will require a comprehensive analysis of

practical difficulties

, especially regarding the availability of question setters and reference books in Malayalam in all subjects, and all possible fallouts. It can only be a lengthy process, which may either succeed or fail, the sources said.

The government itself is well aware about the complications and lack of a fool proof platform for the PSC to meet the demand. But the PSC does not rule out a possible agreement or putting an end to the ongoing strike with a promise of a sincere effort to honour the protestors’ sentiments.

If the PSC is to provide

question papers

in Malayalam with immediate effect, the questions will have to be limited to those based on texts available in Malayalam. Even the universities in the state with a large academic community are not opting for preparing questions in Malayalam, as texts are not available in Malayalam, the PSC sources point out.

Currently, each exam involves around 25 modules to cover all subjects, and it’s not practically possible for the PSC to ask the question setters, who are randomly chosen from various institutions across the county, to provide questions in Malayalam as well. And the PSC strongly believes that further translation of questions set in English by a third party would endanger their secrecy, ‘as question papers are getting leaked from such sources in other PSC’s across the country’.

Besides, possibility of mistakes in translations and further complications while deleting a particular question will jeopardise the entire recruitment process and lead to inordinate delays if aggrieved candidates approach the courts. In short, there’s no clear solution before the PSC now, which could be presented during the talks with the CM.

The PSC’s argument is that setting questions in Malayalam will be impossible unless the universities in Kerala, like those in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, come out with text books in the vernacular. Citing lack of Malayalam versions of treasury code or revenue code books, the PSC is asking whether the government employees would demand the option for writing department tests in Malayalam.

With regard to the KAS (Kerala Administrative Service) exam scheme, the GAD recommended and approved the Indian Civil Services model, and even the beneficiaries (candidates) undergoing coaching at various academies, including the government-run ones will only opt for the existing modality, the PSC officials argue.