Lok Sabha Question No. 40 (STARRED), answered on 2021-02-03
Subject: Medium of Recruitment Exams
Ministry: PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
Asked by: S. Jothimani

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS (DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL AND TRAINING)

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 40

(TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.02.2021)

## MEDIUM OF RECRUITMENT EXAMS

## *40. MS. S. JOTHIMANI:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of recruitment exams conducted in Hindi and English languages;
- (b) the details of recruitment exams conducted in the languages under 8th Schedule of the Constitution, especially in Tamil;
- (c) the number of applicants taking the exam and appointments made during the last three years, Statewise, especially in Tamil Nadu;
- (d) whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  increase  the  number  of  recruitment  exams conducted in regional languages;
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (f) the  reasons  for  not  considering  Tamil  and  other  regional  languages  as  medium  of examination as frequently as Hindi and English?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) to (f):    A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*********

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLAY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  40  FOR  03.02.2021  BY  MS.  S.  JOTHIMANI  REGARDING  MEDIUM  OF RECRUITMENT EXAMS:

There  are  more  than  20  recruitment  agencies  in  the  Central  Government.  These recruitment  agencies  conduct  recruitment  as  per  the  recruitment  rules  framed  and  notified  for each service/post. No  centralized data of recruitment examinations conducted by these recruitment agencies is maintained.

2. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is responsible for conducting recruitment to higher  civil  services  in  the  Central  Government,  including  the  All  India  Services.  Direct recruitment by the UPSC is done through 16 open competitive examinations annually as well as by selection
3. Staff  Selection  Commission  (SSC)  is  responsible  for  recruitment  to  Group  B  (nonGazetted) posts, Group B (Gazetted) posts, as are exempted from consultation with UPSC, and Group C posts in various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and their attached and  subordinate  offices.  The  SSC  conducts  7  mandated  recruitment  examinations,  as  also recruitment/examinations on Memorandum of Understanding-basis for the Central Armed Police Forces and some other departments.
4. Preliminary  examinations  conducted  by  the  UPSC  and  SSC  comprise  multiple-choice objective type question papers in Hindi and English, wherein the candidate has to tick mark the appropriate answer. However, in the Civil Services (Mains) Examination conducted by UPSC, the  candidate  has  the  option  to  write  his  answers  in  any  regional  language,  except  in  case  of language and literature paper. The SSC also conducts Paper-II of Multi-Tasking (Non-Technical) Staff Examination in all the languages included in the Eighth Schedule.
5. Recruitment  to  junior  level  posts  in  the  Indian  Railways  is  done  through  a  Computer Based  Test  by  21  Railway  Recruitment  Boards  (RRBs)  located  all  over  the  Country.  The question paper for the RRB competitive examinations is objective type with multiple choices. In addition to English, question papers are set in 15 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
6. The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) conducts all Common Recruitment Process  (CRP) Exams for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Public Sector Banks  (PSBs) for Probationary Officers/ Management Trainees, Clerks and Specialists, in Hindi and English. As per the policy laid down in this regard, in Common Recruitment Process of RRBs, online Main Examinations  of  Officers  Scale  I  and  Office  Assistants  (Multipurpose),  the  candidates  are provided  with  an  option  to  choose  the  medium  of  examination  from  the  list  of  13  regional languages (including Tamil), relevant to the State/ UT, in addition to Hindi and English.
7. Department of Posts conducts direct recruitment from open market for the posts of MultiTasking  Staff,  Postman  and  Mail  Guard.  In  the  recruitment  rules  of  MTS,  Postman  and  Mail Guard,  knowledge  of  local  language  of  the  respective  Postal  Circle  is  one  of  the  essential educational qualifications.  In  examinations  conducted  in  a  decentralized  manner by  the  Postal

Circles for MTS, Postman and Mail Guard, question papers are prepared in English, Hindi and local language of the respective Postal Circle, where Hindi is not a local language.

8. The details of recruitment examinations conducted by these agencies during the last three years are given in Appendix 'A'.
9. In  August,  2020,  the  National  Recruitment  Agency  (NRA)  has  been  set  up  by  the Government to conduct the first-level screening of candidates through a Common Eligibility Test (CET) at the Graduate, the Higher Secondary and the Matriculate levels, for the SSC, RRBs and the IBPS. It is envisaged that the NRA may conduct the CET in regional languages included in the Eighth Schedule, as per requirement, subject to adequate number of candidates opting to take test in the regional languages.

*****

## Appendix 'A'

## Details of Recruitment/Examinations conducted by the UPSC, SSC, Department of Posts,

## RRBs and IBPS during the last three years (2017-2020)

## I. UPSC

|         | Direct Recruitment by Exam   | Direct Recruitment by Selection   |
|---------|------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Year    | No. of candidates applied    | No. of candidates applied         |
| 2017-18 | 2990071                      | 119944                            |
| 2018-19 | 3035783                      | 61011                             |
| 2019-20 | 3041246                      | 54740                             |

## II. SSC

| Year    |   No. of candidates appeared |   No. of candidates recommended for appointment |
|---------|------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18 |                      7933682 |                                           43815 |
| 2018-19 |                      3681155 |                                           16179 |
| 2019-20 |                      6671593 |                                           14098 |

(State-wise data is not maintained by SSC)

## III. Department of Posts

| MTS/Postman/Mail Guard   | MTS/Postman/Mail Guard   | MTS/Postman/Mail Guard   | MTS/Postman/Mail Guard   | MTS/Postman/Mail Guard   |
|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|                          | All India                | All India                | In Tamil Nadu            | In Tamil Nadu            |
| Year                     | No. of applicants        | No. of appointments      | No. of applicants        | No. of appointments      |
| 2018                     | 24446                    | 1924                     | 2448                     | 233                      |
| 2019                     | 31408                    | 3966                     | 2835                     | 664                      |
| 2020                     | 58344                    | 2318                     | 7795                     | 252 + Partly in process  |

## IV. RRB (South Railway only)

| Year    |   Recruitment made by RRB for Southern Railway |
|---------|------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18 |                                           1031 |
| 2018-19 |                                             24 |
| 2019-20 |                                           8224 |

## V. IBPS

## A. FOR REGIONAL RURAL BANKS

| OFFICE ASSISTANT /OFFICERS SCALE I /OFFICER   | OFFICE ASSISTANT /OFFICERS SCALE I /OFFICER   | OFFICE ASSISTANT /OFFICERS SCALE I /OFFICER   | OFFICE ASSISTANT /OFFICERS SCALE I /OFFICER   | OFFICE ASSISTANT /OFFICERS SCALE I /OFFICER   | OFFICE ASSISTANT /OFFICERS SCALE I /OFFICER   |
|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|                                               |                                               | PAN INDIA                                     | PAN INDIA                                     | TAMILNADU                                     | TAMILNADU                                     |
| RRB                                           | Year                                          | TOTAL APPEARED                                | TOTAL ALLOTTED                                | APPEARED                                      | ALLOTTED                                      |
| RRB-VI                                        | 2017-18                                       | 1843290                                       | 14685                                         | 100995                                        | 707                                           |
| RRB- VII                                      | 2018-19                                       | 1173546                                       | 9627                                          | 83326                                         | 858                                           |
| RRB- VIII                                     | 2019-20                                       | 894637                                        | 8048                                          | 61850                                         | 392                                           |

## B. FOR PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

| CLERICAL CADRE/PROBATIONARY OFFICER (PAN INDIA)   | CLERICAL CADRE/PROBATIONARY OFFICER (PAN INDIA)   | CLERICAL CADRE/PROBATIONARY OFFICER (PAN INDIA)   | CLERICAL CADRE/PROBATIONARY OFFICER (PAN INDIA)   | CLERICAL CADRE/PROBATIONARY OFFICER (PAN INDIA)   | CLERICAL CADRE/PROBATIONARY OFFICER (PAN INDIA)   |
|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
|                                                   |                                                   | PAN INDIA                                         | PAN INDIA                                         | TAMILNADU                                         | TAMILNADU                                         |
| CRB                                               | Year                                              | TOTAL APPEARED                                    | TOTAL ALLOTTED                                    | APPEARED                                          | ALLOTTED                                          |
| CRP- VII                                          | 2017-18                                           | 1769254                                           | 15007                                             | 280575                                            | 2886                                              |
| CRP- VIII                                         | 2018-19                                           | 1407530                                           | 17913                                             | 226686                                            | 3197                                              |
| CRP-IX                                            | 2019-20                                           | 1241203                                           | 22269                                             | 181911                                            | 3457                                              |