Kerala has recently viewed the uncompromising agitation by United Malayalam Movement (Aikya Malayala Prasthanam) in order to ensure question papers in mother tongue, Malayalam in addition to English in the examinations conducted by Kerala Public Service Commission. Malayalam has been accepted constitutionally as the administrative language in Kerala. Steps have been initiated by the Government at various levels to switch over to Malayalam. But it seems the calculated as well as funded initiatives are insufficient for its enrichment.
The arguments of practical difficulties in bringing out Malayalam question papers in technical subjects cannot be treated as a principal barrier in strengthening the institutional acceptance of a regional language. Belonging to the family of Dravidian languages, Malayalam has a rich heritage of perhaps more than 2,300 years. The brighter side of the classical language with rich repository and competence shall be utilized to defeat the hurdles.
Following the agitation of United Malayalam Movement (Aikya Malayala Prasthanam) the government of Kerala has suggested to make available in Malayalam the question papers of all recruitment examinations conducted by the PSC, including Kerala Administrative Service (KAS). The apex recruitment agency accepted the government’s suggestion in this regard “in principle” and all recruitment examinations, being conducted by the Kerala’s Public Service Commission (PSC), will soon have question papers in native language, Malayalam along with English. We congratulate the activists of United Malayalam Movement (Aikya Malayala Prasthanam) for organizing the uncompromising movement.
Sandhya S.N
Chief Editor, Indian Ruminations
