Nitin Nayak, 26, came to Delhi in
2008 to prepare for the prestigious civil services
examinations. So far, he has made two
unsuccessful attempts to clear the exams. With
the preliminary exam scheduled less than a
month away - it is scheduled to be held on
August 24 - one would expect Nitin to be
immersed in preparations. Instead, he and his
friends have been participating in protests
across the national capital, demanding for
scrapping of an aptitude test they believe gives
an unfair advantage to English-speaking
students.
"Before 2011 (when the new pattern was
introduced), approximately 25 per cent Hindi
language students would be selected... In 2011,
that number fell to 15 per cent... And just look
at the (final) results of 2013... Of 1,122 students
who cleared the finals, only 26 were from non-
English language backgrounds," he claims.
The statistics worry Narendra Kumar, who
arrived in the city from Kota in Rajasthan two
years ago. The 24-year-old had Hindi as his
medium of instruction during his schooling and
college days, including his stint in engineering.
At the centre of the crisis is the CSAT or the
Civil Service Aptitude Test, introduced in 2011.
Under the earlier format, there was a paper on
general studies and one on an optional subject,
which has now been replaced by CSAT I and
CSAT II. The latter consists of a compulsory
component that deals with English language
comprehension skills. More worrying is the fact
that the exam papers use internet translating
tools for questions in Hindi, resulting in literal
translations.
"If I get a question paper that translates 'steel
plant' as 'lohe ka paudha ' or 'confidence-
building' as ' vishwas bhavan', how am I
supposed to answer that?" says Nitin. Narendra
adds, "How can we figure out what the question
is if a tablet computer becomes a 'goli computer'
in Hindi?"
When a single mark determines the ranking of a
candidate by several percentile points, these
literal translations, students say, could make all
the difference between qualifying and losing
another attempt.
Though the government has assured that "no
injustice" will be done, students are not
convinced. Add to that a bevy of politicians
from the Hindi heartland, who have voiced
their support both inside and outside the
Parliament, and the Modi government has
another crisis at hand.