Better English

What came as a big surprise in the recent controversy around making English a compulsory language for the civil service examination, which was perceived by members of Parliament as an insult to regional languages, thus forcing the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to go back on allowing students to write their papers in any scheduled regional language, was the stance of Dalit leader Udit Raj. The founder of the Indian Justice Party and a former Indian Revenue Service officer, Raj regretted the fact that English would have no value in terms of marks in the civil service examination. He said: "A minimum English knowledge is a must for civil servants for the unity of the nation... I was born in a village and I did not know English till intermediate level." Raj still made it to the civil service, and for 15 years, held various posts, including that of additional commissioner of income tax.