BENGALURU: Kannada Development Authority (KDA) that has been pushing for use of Kannada in administration has urged the Centre to amend Institute of Banking Personnel Section (IBPS) rules to give prominence to local candidates’ recruitment in public sector banks.“The centralised recruitment system adopted by the IBPS is in blatant violation of constitutional principles of federalism. The regional sentiments are completely ignored by allowing people from other states to work in Karnataka or elsewhere without having to worry to learn the local language,’’ KDA chairman Prof S G Siddaramaiah said on Thursday.
A delegation consisting of Siddaramaiah, Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekara Kambar, Kannada writer Siddalingaiah, Kannada Sahithya Parishat Chairman Manu Baligar, former KDA Chairman Mukhyamanthri Chandru and Kannada writer L Hanumanthaiah submitted a memorandum to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.They urged the Centre to direct the IBPS to modify its eligibility criteria to make good command over the local language a compulsory requirement for candidates applying for jobs in banks.
The KDA suggested that even after recruitment, if the candidates fail to converse properly in the local language, their services should be terminated within a period of six months from the date of appointment. And local candidates who are waiting for jobs should be consequently appointed in order of their merit.
The authority has also urged the Centre to give proper representation to candidates having good command over regional language in recruitments done through Staff Selection Commission, Central Excise Services and Railway Services. They also asked the Centre to provide question papers of all examinations conducted by the Centre and allied departments in all 22 officially recognised Indian languages.
The KDA chairman and other Kannada writers stated that the Centre’s decision to shift the Central Reserve Police Force centre from Taralu on Bengaluru’s outskirts to Chandouli in Uttar Pradesh came as a shocker.
