There has been an outrage against the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) for poor and erroneous translation of questions from English to Kannada, leading to confusion among Kannada-medium students, in the question papers of preliminary examination conducted on August 27 for filling 350 gazetted probationary officer posts in the State. There is now a demand for re-examination.
Many including writers Kum. Veerabhadrappa, L.N. Mukundaraj, and president of the Kannada Sahitya Academy Nagatihalli Chandrasekhar, and film personalities such as B.M. Giriraj and Kaviraj have expressed solidarity with the issue. Organisations such as the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike have sought a re-exam. Kannada Development Authority chairperson Purushottama Bilimale has written to the Secretary of the KPSC and sought a detailed report in this regard. On social media platforms, #KPSC_Mosa #KASReExam were trending.
While many have expressed suspicion that the use of artificial intelligence tools for translation had led to such mistranslation, rendering many questions unintelligible, the KPSC has denied it and said that it was done by translators assigned by the Translation Department at the commission.
T.A. Narayana Gowda, State president of the vedike, said the exam conducted by the KPSC was “grossly unfair to the students of Kannada medium”. About 1.3 lakh students appeared for the exam and more than one lakh of them are Kannada-medium students and from rural background. “There were many among the 60 questions (120 marks) which were beyond comprehension,” he said.
“To begin with, it is unscientific to first prepare the question paper in English and then translate it into Kannada while conducting the exam in Karnataka. The question paper of any exam held in Karnataka should be set in Kannada first. The government should conduct a re-examination and blunders in the earlier examination should be investigated and strict action taken against the officials responsible,” he said.
Concurring with this, Mr. Bilimale said, “Kannada is the sovereign and administrative language of Karnataka. So questions need to be set in Kannada and then translated into English.”
Published - August 30, 2024 10:55 pm IST
