Kannada Pride, Translation Trouble: Siddaramaiah-Led Congress Government Orders KPSC Retest After Exam Blunder

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has ordered a re-examination for Karnataka Public Services Commission (KPSC) Gazetted Probationers after an outrage over translation errors in the Kannada question paper.

In the exam held on 27 August for recruiting 350 gazetted probationary officers, poor and erroneous translations of questions from English to Kannada were reported leading to outrage among Kannada-medium students.

After this, the pressure started mounting on the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state to conduct a re-exam in favour of the Kannada-medium students.

The Karnataka Congress government often takes a pro-Kannada stance including passing legislation to mandate 60 per cent Kannada component on signages and planning to bring Kannadiga reservations in private jobs.

Hence, Siddaramaiah could not let the translation errors prevail over his pro-Kannada stance. The re-exam has been directed to be conducted within two months "to ensure fairness to all candidates."

"Those responsible for these lapses have been relieved of their duties," the Karnataka CM said referring to the suspension of several officers who failed to conduct flawless exams.

"The upcoming examination will be conducted with the utmost responsibility and accountability following all due diligence. We remain committed to upholding the integrity of our recruitment processes," he said.

Writers like Kumar Veerabhadrappa, L N Mukundaraj, and president of the Kannada Sahitya Academy Nagatihalli Chandrasekhar had also supported the re-exam demand.

Film celebrities such as B M Giriraj and Kaviraj and organisations like Karnataka Rakshana Vedike had voiced support for the re-exam. Re-exam demands also trended on social media platforms.