CHENNAI: More corrective measures would be introduced in the process being adopted by the agencies recruiting government employees, said Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Saturday, in the backdrop of the Tamil language paper being made mandatory in all government jobs examinations. The Minister was addressing a press conference here.
Explaining the importance of the G.O. issued for making the Tamil language paper mandatory, he said, "The ecosystem of recruitment process followed by TNPSC and other agencies need transformation. The TNPSC has to conduct around 80 examinations for different departments. The model being adopted now needs to undergo modifications. The government employees, who would be meeting the people daily, should know Tamil." Only if the candidate scored 40 per cent marks in the Tamil paper, other papers would go for grading, he stated, adding the G.O. had been passed after consulting legal experts and officials.
Earlier, there were many cases related to the TNPSC examinations. At times, the examinations were postponed. Considering all these things, the government felt a lot of changes had to be made, the Minister explained. "Now, the sanctioned posts for the State government is around 14 lakhs but the present number of employees is around nine lakhs. So, there are a lot of vacancies and filling the positions through the proper procedure is very important. The State government aims at recruiting people from all strata of the society for the government services," Rajan added.
Asked whether the candidates, who have studied in English medium, would be affected by the G.O. and that they might move the court, the Minister said, "It is their right to move the court. But the government does not expect PhD level Tamil proficiency from the candidates. We expect them to possess Tamil knowledge equal to class 10, and 40 marks."
The Minister also clarified that the present G.O. would apply to the examinations that were to be held hereafter. The existing employees of the State government had to pass the Tamil language paper within two years to continue the job, he added.