TIRUCHY: The eleventh-hour decision to present the postal examination question paper only in English and Hindi has left many candidates worried as they fear they performed badly since they could not understand many questions. Several candidates who wrote the exam in Tiruchy on Sunday said they had little hope of passing it.
The exam was for Gramin Dak Sevak (GDS) to Postal Assistant (PA) promotion. In Tiruchy, 310 members took the exam from various villages in Tiruchy Zone. With GDS requiring only 10 pass qualifications for postings in rural areas, the candidates said that expecting all of them to understand complex questions in English was a tall order.
Those with five years’ experience as Gramin Dak Sevak can appear for the exam to take a shot at joining the mainstream Indian Postal Service as postal assistant and perhaps be posted in cities.
A candidate from Pattukkottai said, “The reasoning questions were too complex to understand with the little English we know. We were prepared to take the paper in Tamil but just three days ago, they removed Tamil.”
Tiruchy Zone Gramin Dak Sevak Association Secretary K Maruthamuthu said, “Many complained to me that mathematics was too tough to understand. I am not even sure enough would pass to fill the 985 vacancies. If this departmental recruitment fails, it will be made open. There again those who know Tamil but not well versed in English may find it tough to compete with those who know Hindi.”