Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday will hold discussions with the state Public Service Commission ((PSC) regarding the option of making PSC question papers available in Malayalam. This follows mounting protests by the Aikya Malayalam Prasthanam (AMP), who have been on an indefinite fast outside the PSC headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram from August 30 onwards.
The protest by AMP, which has received support from various eminent personalities in the state like filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and poet Sugadha Kumari, has criticised the PSC for neglecting the Malayalam language despite it being recognised as the state’s administrative language.
According to a report by Deccan Chronicle, the meeting proposed by the Kerala CM to discuss the issue of setting PSC question papers in Malayalam was delayed due to various holidays for festivals like Onam and Muharram. As per the report, several writers and intellectuals went on a fast across the state on the day of Thiruvonam to show their solidarity to the indefinite fast. They had stated that they would intensify their fast if the talks on Monday fail.
However, a report by the Times of India (ToI) states that it is highly unlikely that the discussion between the CM and the PSC officials will come up with a concrete solution to the issue. It states that the government will not, all of a sudden, be able to implement such a demand as it requires the guaranteeing of error-free question papers and protection of the secrecy of exams, which in the current atmosphere surrounding the PSC, will be a tough task.
The Kerala PSC examinations have come under the scanner after three of the accused in a stabbing case in University College, Thiruvananthapuram, were found to have engaged in malpractices during the PSC examinations in 2018, following which they secured top ranks in the exams. The case regarding this is still ongoing.