Postal Department exam annulled with Tamil Nadu parties pitching for Tamil as medium of test
In the wake of protests by members from Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha against the dropping of regional languages, especially Tamil, as a medium of recruitment examination held by the Postal department, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said the test held on Sunday would stand cancelled and that a fresh one would be held in all regional languages.
Mr. Prasad said, “Certain issues were raised in this House by members, including my friends from Tamil Nadu. I have examined the matter today itself and it has been decided to cancel the examination held on 14-7-2019.”
The House proceedings had to be adjourned thrice in the pre-lunch session due to loud protests from the members of the AIADMK, a key NDA ally. They trooped into the well of the House, tore up and flung papers, demanding the annulment of the exam. They were joined by their political rivals, the DMK, Congress, CPI, CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress in the well.
The protests started soon after the listing of papers in the House, with AIADMK members shouting slogans and demanding that the government hold a fresh examination for the recruitment of postmen by including Tamil as a language for taking the exam.
Both the AIADMK and DMK had raised the issue during a zero hour reference on Monday. They contended that excluding the regional languages put rural students at a disadvantage.
On Tuesday, within nine minutes after the House met at 11:00 a.m., Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu first ordered stopping the live transmission of the proceedings owing to the ruckus, and then adjourned the House till noon. When the House met again, the AIADMK continued with the protests, with the slogan “cancel the exam”.
As Deputy Chairman Harivansh appealed for allowing the Question Hour to begin, AIADMK members stormed the well. They were joined by the DMK and the TMC. The protests grew louder when Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V. Muraleedharan said Mr. Prasad would deliver a statement on Wednesday.
As the protest got shrill, the House was adjourned for 15 minutes at 12:06 p.m. When it met again, AIADMK members again stormed the well and raised slogans. This time too, they were joined by the the DMK, Congress, CPI and CPI(M) members, and Mr. Harivansh adjourned the House till 2 p.m.
With no sign of the parties relenting, Mr. Prasad made the statement in the House thereafter.
→
0 comments:
Post a Comment