Postal department exam annulled with Tamil Nadu parties pitching for Tamil as medium of test

In Rajya Sabha, govt says fresh exam will be held in all local languages.

July 16, 2019 05:26 pm | Updated June 08, 2020 10:35 pm IST - New Delhi

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in Rajya Sabha.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in Rajya Sabha.

After protests by Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu against the dropping of regional languages, especially Tamil, as a medium of the examination held by the Postal Department for recruitment of postmen, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said the test held on Sunday would stand cancelled. A fresh one would be held in all regional languages, he said. 

The House had to be adjourned thrice in the pre-lunch session.

Members of the AIADMK, a key NDA ally, trooped into the well, tore up and flung papers, demanding the annulment of the exam. 

They were joined by their rivals, the DMK, the Congress, the CPI and the CPI(M), and the Trinamool Congress. 

The protests started soon after the listing of papers, with AIADMK members shouting slogans and demanding that the government hold a fresh examination for the recruitment of postmen by including Tamil as a language. Both the AIADMK and the DMK raised the issue during a zero hour reference on Monday. They contended that excluding the regional languages put rural students at a disadvantage. 

On Tuesday, within nine minutes after the House met at 11.00 a.m., Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu ordered stopping the live transmission of the proceedings owing to the ruckus and adjourned the House till noon.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.