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.