CHENNAI: The expected has happened and what they all feared took place. Paper I in the Postal department exam, which has the questions only in English and Hindi and wanted candidates to answer only in either of those languages while keeping regional Tamil out, has been tough.
The Department of Posts had passed the amendment to restrict the examination language to Hindi and English just three days before the date of examination and had also not publicised this change. Many candidates who appeared for the examination on Sunday felt that they have been checkmated by the denial of the Tamil language to write the exam.
The exam held at Chennai, Tiruchy, Madurai and Coimbatore, was scheduled to recruit about 1,000 Group D posts including multi tasking staff, postman, mail guard, postal assistants and sorting assistants for the department. Till last year, the candidates were allowed to take the exams in any of the 15 languages provided, including Tamil.
"The questions posed in paper I were very tough. We could not understand some of the questions in English. Though we could comprehend a few questions that pertained to our work, we could not provide a proper answer in English. It could have been a lot better if the questions were asked in Tamil," says a candidate from who had appeared for the examination to the post of Postal Assistant.
"The questions in English and Hindi were a big drawback for us in performing better," says a candidate from Tiruvannamalai. She had to bring her infant son to the exam centre here as she could not leave him at home. "The second paper was however easy as we were asked to write a letter in Tamil besides translating some words," she adds.
Both of them have severed as Branch Post Master for five years and appeared in the test today hoping to be elevated to the post of Postal Assistant. "In the postal department in Tamil Nadu, only the accounts and journal entries are in English and we are familiar with the rules and regulations only in Tamil," the candidate said.
Another candidate claimed that though she was familiar with the department rules she could not express them in English or Hindi. "What is the point in not holding the exam in Tamil when we are serving the people of Tamil Nadu. Many in the rural areas are not at all conversant in English or Hindi," she says.
