Madras high court orders postponement of KVPY exam over regional language issue – Times of India

The court ordered the postponement of the exam acting on a public interest litigation seeking to conduct it in all regional languages instead of in English and Hindi.

The court sought the response of the Centre on the steps that have been taken to obtain adequate personnel so that the exam can be held in multiple Indian languages.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice M Duraiswamy passed the interim order after taking note of the Centre’s submission that it does not have adequate personnel to assess answers given in various languages. The Centre further submitted that it may be difficult to find an equivalent term in local languages when it comes to scientific words and terminologies.

The judges observed that it would not do for the Centre to say that it does not have qualified assessors to appreciate the material put up by non-Hindi and non-English speaking aspirants. If at all it is the deficiency with the Centre, young aspirants from non-Hindi and non-English speaking belts in the country should not suffer on such grounds.

The judges observed that for instance, it may be said that neither Germany nor Japan is deficient in technology or in the field of science because English may not be spoken in such countries. While it is possible that common scientific words are used in a particular language, it cannot be that a candidate who is not proficient in a particular language will not be able to demonstrate his skills in the field of science merely on such ground.

It is possible for a bright young mind groomed in Assamese vernacular or another young prospect from deep in rural Odisha to be able to come up with brilliant ideas that the KVPY project aspires to tap into. Merely because the aspirant may not be adept at Hindi or English languages may not amount to the aspirant being disqualified, observed the judges.

The judges further observed that even if it is a token scholarship of Rs 5,000, it amounts to recognition of a young mind and every Indian of such age should be entitled to equally participate in the process and exhibit their talents.

The PIL was filed by G Thirumurugan of Ramanathapuram district. He stated that the main objective of the KVPY aptitude test is to identify students with talent and aptitude for research, to help them realize their academic potential and to encourage them to take up research careers in science by providing fellowships.

The petitioner stated that conducting the exam only in English and Hindi would do injustice for the students studying in the other mediums of instructions. Hence, the petitioner sought to conduct the KVPY exam in all the regional languages including Tamil.

The case was adjourned by a fortnight and it was posted before the principal bench at Chennai for further hearing.