BENGALURU: JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy has written to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asking him to consider reinstating old rules regarding language requirements in banking exams.
In his letter, Kumaraswamy stated that The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) exams provided a major opportunity of employment for rural youth in Karnataka and other states. But the Centre recently altered the exam pattern diluting the local language criteria.
“Until the change in the exam pattern, aspiring candidates could write the IBPS examinations in their respective state languages...However. now the central government has made it mandatory to write the exams in either English or Hindi. Further, the Centre has done away with the requirement to know the local language, virtually shutting the door to employment for candidates from rural and economically backward areas,” he said.
He added that the new rules gave undue advantage to candidates from the Hindi belt by allowing them to write in their local language which was against the principles of the Constitution. He requested Jaitley to relook the changes introduced to the language clause and reinstate the old system.