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Siddaramaiah attacks BSY, PM over banking exam row
Siddaramaiah, the Congress’ leader of the opposition in Karnataka, on Tuesday, lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister BS Yediyurappa over The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) exams
Siddaramaiah, the Congress’ leader of the opposition in Karnataka, on Tuesday, lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister BS Yediyurappa over The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) exams.
“@BSYBJP’s followers call him Huli (Tiger) but in reality, he is ili (Mouse). He hides in burrows when he has to stand up in front of @narendramodi . Let him resign if he cannot ensure justice to Kannadigas,” Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said in a post on Twitter.
He put in a hashtag #IBPSMosa (IBPS cheat) in his post.
The tirade by Siddaramaiah continued on an emotive issue in Karnataka where the language of the state, Kannada, has been sidelined in favour of Hindi, which has been resisted by groups and political parties.
In a recent notification the IBPS had stated that except for the English language test, other papers will be available in only one other language: Hindi.
“@narendramodi is betraying Kannadigas by not allowing candidates to take IBPS exams in Kannada. The latest notification by IBPS is an example of @BJP4India’s anti-Kannada stand.
Central govt should immediately address this & ensure justice to Kannadigas,” Siddaramaiah said in his post. The former Karnataka chief minister also lashed out at union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a member of the upper house of parliament nominated from Karnataka and other Lok Sabha members from the state for continuing to put up with the imposition of Hindi.
“Being elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, @nsitharaman has constantly betrayed Kannadigas and Kannada. She has continued the same with respect to IBPS exams. She is unfit to represent the people of Karnataka in Rajya Sabha. She should resign if she has any shame,” Siddaramaiah said.
He even said that the MPs from Karnataka were “behaving like slaves” of the prime minister.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Press Information Bureau said that reports indicated that only two languages (English and Hindi) would be used for IBPS exams “despite the fact that 22 languages were recognized by the Constitution of India”.
“In the above context, it may be clarified that the Finance Minister’s statement referred to above was made in the context of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) only. With a view to providing a level playing field to the local youths for availing employment opportunities, the Government in 2019 decided that for recruitment of Office Assistant and Officer Scale I in RRBs, the examination will be held in 13 regional languages including Konakani and Kannada, besides Hindi and English. Since then, examination for these recruitments is being conducted in regional languages also,” according to the PIB statement.
It added that a committee has been constituted to look into demands for other languages to be used in holding examinations for public sector banks.
“The Committee will give its recommendations within 15 days. The ongoing process of holding the examination initiated by IBPS will be kept on hold until the recommendations of the Committee are made available,” the PIB said in a statement.
