Opposition parties in Karnataka on Friday hit out at the BJP government at the Centre, accusing it of 'ignoring' the demand of people of the state to write the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) exams in Kannada, and termed it as "injustice" to Kannadigas.
Congress and JD(S) said the advertisement for the online examination (Preliminary and Main) for the next Common Recruitment Process for selection of personnel for clerical cadre posts states that the exams will be held only in English and Hindi.
"The Kannadiga demand of restoration of domicile clause prior to 2014 in #IBPS exams are repeatedly Ignored by @narendramodi @nsitharaman promise in parliament to conduct exam in Kannada is also dishonored Recent notification has humiliated Kannadigas We demand justice to kannadigas," the Karnataka Congress tweeted.
Former Chief Minister and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah has accused the central government of 'cheating' the people of Karnataka and termed the move as a 'conspiracy' to prevent non-Hindi people from getting bank jobs.
"Central govt has again cheated the ppl of Ktaka.They are taking the identity of Kannada for a ride.
Does the promise of @nsitharaman & @tejasvi_Surya mean nothing? Their lack of knowledge & breach of trust is a spectacle for moral spinelessness & political ineptitude.
#IBPS mosa (," Siddaramaiah tweetd.
"It is a conspiracy to prevent non-hindi ppl from getting bank jobs.
We have to teach @BJP4India a lesson about the power of linguistic diversity.
What are the representatives from @BJP4Karnataka doing? Do they also subscribe to the idea of superiority of Hindi? Shame!!" he said in another tweet.
Another former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy in a tweet said despite repeated demand by Kannadigas, the central government was not conducting IBPS exams in Kannada and also not restoring the domicile clause that was there earlier.
"this is evidence of the centres step-motherly behavior. I strongly oppose it," he said.
Amid growing demand from various quarters, including MPs from various states,Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in July had told Parliament that the exams for direct recruitment of Scale-I officers and office assistants in Regional Rural Banks would be held in 13 regional languages, apart from English and Hindi.
Common Recruitment Process for recruitment of officers in RRBs are also conducted by the Institute for Banking Personnel Selection.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
