BENGALURU: The Directorate of Translations (DoT) is facing a severe shortage of translators, especially English to Kannada, and vice versa. The post of Hindi translator has been vacant for the past 15 years.
According to officials, the directorate has only 19 of the 40 sanctioned staff strength. The state government has promised to recruit nine translators through the KPSC. But they are not sure when the recruitment will happen, they said.
Because of the shortage of translators, regular government work has been affected, especially communication between the Union and state governments, and also between the state government and courts. “There is a need for English and Hindi translators. But we do not have one. We are outsourcing the translation work and there are chances of errors or leak of information,” said a senior DoT official.
“These are all government jobs. We have made many requests. But the government is yet to appoint translators. We need experts,” M Venkatesh, DoT Director, told The New Indian Express.
DoT director says no new recruitment has taken place
Venkatesh said earlier there were translators handling correspondence in other Indian languages, including Marathi and Urdu. But after their retirement, no new recruitment has happened. “We find it difficult when we have too many files,” he added.
The staff crunch has affected departments such as revenue, agriculture and police, where communication with citizens and government has to be fast paced. In 2018, the state government issued a gazette notification and a 23-member panel was formed.
The members of the panel translate documents. But the members are outsourced, who provide assistance only when it is needed. Thus, timely work and their availability, when needed, are not guaranteed, a DoT official said.
