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New Delhi: Do
English skills of bureaucrats impact their work? The UPSC
notification giving more weight to English in the civil services
examination and government's decision to put the move on hold has
triggered a furious debate. IAS officers say emphasis on English
is useful but it should not affect prospects of candidates from
small towns and rural areas.
The civil services examination that selects candidates for the
Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian
Police Service among others is one of the most sought-after tests
in the country with thousands of students giving it a try every
year.
The changes in the examination format brought about by Union
Public Service Commission (UPSC) through a notification March 5
triggered a political storm in the Lok Sabha Friday with parties
including the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal-United, Samajwadi
Party, AIADMK, DMK, Shiromani Akali Dal, Biju Janata Dal, CPI,
CPI-M and BJP forcing the government to hold back the move.
The UPSC had proposed that the English language paper of 100 marks
in the civil services main examination would be added to a
candidate's overall score. Earlier, the candidates had to pass the
English test but the marks were not added to the final tally.
Civil servants IANS spoke to were not willing to be quoted by name
and most of them said that skills in English were useful in an all
-India service. They said any effort to improve linguistic
proficiency should be made without affecting the prospects of
rural candidates.
A woman IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre said skills in
English were important for discharge of duties by a civil servant.
She said the controversy surrounding the UPSC notification can be
resolved by toughening up the qualifying examination in English.
"The qualifying examination in English can be made tougher. The
pass marks can also be increased, from, say 35 percent to 50
percent, but marks of English paper should not be added to the
total tally," the officer told IANS.
She said if English marks were added to the total tally, "some
candidates can be seriously disadvantaged".
An IAS official, who has worked at both the central and state
levels, said skills in English were a great asset as a senior
officer has to increasingly interact with foreign agencies also.
"In additional to one's own language, it is important to know an
international language. For us, international language is
English," he said.
He said if there is feeling in the government that English skills
of officers needs to honed up, it can take corrective steps.
"It (proficiency in English) could be linked to promotions," he
said.
An IAS officer posted with Haryana government said that changes
proposed by the UPSC must have been done after due deliberation.
"It would have gone through various layers. The government would
have applied its mind to it," he said.
The officer said most work at the government of India level was
done either in English or Hindi and linguistic skills helped in
explaining the decisions logically.
However, an IAS officer posted in the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Poverty Alleviation said that lack of proficiency in English
was not a handicap in itself.
"What matters is integrity, commitment, knowledge of your subject
and your experience. These attributes are important to solve
problems of people. English is just a tool, other languages are a
tool," he said.
He said very large part of an IAS officer's career is spent in
states and he has to work and interact in regional language.
The officer said that changes were brought in the format of civil
service examination in the late seventies and people from rural
backgrounds started entering the service it in greater numbers.
"It also led to more preference among top rankers for IAS compared
to IFS," he said.
Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mohan Singh said the UPSC move to add
English marks to the overall tally would have gone against
candidates from rural areas and political parties exerted pressure
on the government.
"It will be difficult for candidates of rural areas to pass the
examination if UPSC notification is implemented," Singh told IANS.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tarun Vijay said unity of India is
cemented by flowering of Indian languages.
"Countries in Europe, even China, has not progressed by using
English as a vehicle. It is colonial mindset that has seized
Indian rulers and they are ashamed of their own mother tongue,"
Vijay told IANS.
Vijay said the UPSC move would have restricted chances of
candidates who are less proficient in English but are well-versed
in their own languages.
Congress leader Raashid Alvi said the government will try to
create consensus among political parties on the UPSC notification.
"The final decision will be taken keeping the interests of
students in the entire country in mind," he said.
The UPSC had also said in its notification that at least 25
candidates should opt for a specific language medium and if the
number was less, the candidates will be required write the
examination in Hindi or English. It had said that candidate opting
for specified regional languages as medium of writing should have
cleared the graduation examination with that language medium.
According to the People's Linguistic Survey of India, only about
10 million people - or less 0.1 percent of India's population -
have given English as their mother tongue.
(Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in)
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