MYSORE: Stenographer posts, once most sought after, especially among young women, has no takers now. Such is the crisis in various government departments that at a recent recruitment held to fill the posts of five stenographers for Chamarajanagar courts, only three turned up for the interview. Worse, only one got selected.
In Chamarajanagar court alone, four of the five stenographer posts have been lying vacant for months. “Though we received 13 applications, four had no required qualification like senior shorthand in English or Kannda languages and were rejected,” said S L Nagaraj, CAO, Chamarajanagar Court.
He attributed the situation to the severe shortage of shorthand trainers in the state. “Of the nine persons shortlisted last week, only three attended. Though two candidates had the required certificates, they were not able to take dictation in shorthand and transcribe it to a document,” he adds.
With no option, they depend on typists who require not only more time, but their copies also need several corrections. While a stenographer can type at a minimum speed of 120 words a minute, typists take four minutes for it. This affects the speedy disposal of cases, he added.
Usha Devi J, who runs a typing institute at Jayanagar in Mysore, attributed the situation to the misconception that there is no scope for typing in the IT era.