The State Cabinet on Thursday decided to make proficiency in Malayalam mandatory for getting government jobs in the state.
As per the decision, the candidates who had not studied Malayalam up to Class X, Class XII or graduation will have to pass the Senior Higher diploma course under the Malayalam Mission after they get appointment.
However, the existing provisions of the Kerala Service Rules (KSR) would be applicable to persons belonging to the Tamil and Kannada minority groups.
The Rule X of the KSR has stipulated that members of the Kannada and Tamil minorities need to pass Malayalam exam within 10 years of their joining the service.
Briefing the Cabinet decisions, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the PSC would decide on the curriculum for the parity examination. He said that the Cabinet had approved the PSC’s recommendations in this regard.
The Cabinet also decided to raise the age limit of people for getting jobs through employment exchange.
The age limit of people in general category has been increased to 41 from 38 and in the case of OBC it has been raised to 44 from 41. In the case of SC/ST candidates, the age limit has been raised to 46 from 43, Chandy said.
He noted that it was found that candidates in the general category were denied opportunities. He said `3.5 crore was sanctioned for setting up Institute for Centre-State Technology Partnership and Adaptation.