THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The protest against the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) decision to avoid Malayalam language as a subject for recruitment to the post of university assistant has started yielding results with the Commission constituting a committee led by P Sivadasan to look into various aspects of the issue.
It was in total disregard to the unanimously adopted Assembly resolution in favour of Malayalam that the PSC took such a decision. A recent incident of insulting noted writers and poets who protested against the PSC decision also attracted strong reaction, prompting it to constitute a sub-committee.
However, some Commission members are of the view that it was Chairman K S Radhakrishnan’s ploy to buy time that the sub-committee was formed. Speaking to Express, Commission member V T Thomas said that despite the decision to form the sub-committee led by Sivadasan, the Commission Chairman was still insisting on conducting the University Assistant Exam exempting Malayalam as a subject.
‘’The examination has not been conducted yet. There is still scope for the Commission to include Malayalam. But lame excuses are being raised,” said Thomas.
U Suresh Kumar, another member, told Express that the Commission had not been consulted before the notification was issued. The problem cited in case of including Malayalam as a subject is that there should be separate questions in Tamil and Kannada to do justice to the linguistic minorities. And it is cited that while questions in Malayalam will be tough and if questions asked in Tamil and Kannada were easy to answer, it would end as disadvantageous to the candidates choosing Malayalam.
Moreover, separate modules have to be prepared. “These are all lame excuses arrived at a hypothetical scenario. There is still scope for the Commission to solve the issue. But the Chairman should heed the Commission’s advice,” he pointed out.
It was the other day that a group of writers and poets led by V Madhusoodhanan Nair, K P Ramanunni and V N Murali were intimidated and roughed up when they came to represent to the Commission that its decision to avoid Malayalam should be withdrawn.
