BENGALURU: Hundreds of students are set to protest at Freedom Park on February 18, alleging that a disproportionate number of Kannada-medium candidates have failed the gazetted probationary officers’ recruitment examination conducted by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).
The candidates, backed by Kannada activists and writers, have demanded that the government withhold the results published on February 10, citing multiple errors in the Kannada version of the question paper.
Writer Baragur Ramachandrappa has written to CM Siddaramaiah in this regard, pointing out that only 15 to 20% of students who wrote the examination in Kannada had passed, raising concerns over discrimination against Kannada-medium students.
Kannada Development Authority (KDA) Chairman Purushothama Bilimale said the authority will take up the issue with the state government. “KPSC should have involved the state’s translation department to ensure accuracy. If this continues, we may have to suggest that the responsibility of conducting these examinations be handed over to the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA),” he said.
The controversy began with the preliminary examination held on August 27, 2024, for the recruitment of 384 gazetted probationary officers. The Kannada version of the question paper was alleged to have errors due to a flawed translation from English, sparking protests from students. Acknowledging the issue, the CM had ordered a re-examination, which was conducted on December 29, 2024. However, candidates once again found several errors in the Kannada version.