Kochi: From train operators to Section Engineers, proficiency in Malayalam language is a must to be recruited by Kochi Metro Rail Ltd.
“The recruitment phase from now will mainly cover those to the Operations and Maintenance Wing and the officials would need to interact with public in future. The local populace should not find information and directions to be confusing and hence the directive,” said a senior KMRL official.
The candidates should obtain a minimum 40 per cent marks in the compulsory Malayalam test. While it gives a cutting edge to regional candidates, the metro official also acknowledges that 40 per cent of the current staff are outsiders, a majority of whom latter learned to read, write and speak the regional language.
“A lot of our current staff are hailing from other states and took the proficiency test. We expect the same trend to continue for the posts,” the official said.
However, not everyone is happy with the condition. “What has local language got to do with engineers? Even the Kerala PSC doesn’t stipulate such conditions. We can manage to speak the language but to write is a tough ask,” says E Sivapriyan, an aspirant for the Junior Engineer’s post, currently working with a pipeline project of a gas company in the Tripunithura region.
“Working knowledge of Malayalam language is compulsory. This will be subject to verification before selection,” reads the eligibility criteria for Junior Engineers.
Similarly “knowledge of Malayalam language in all the three attributes i.e. Read, Speak and write, is compulsory” for posts like Train Operator, Station Controller, Maintainers and Section Engineers among others.
