Why is UPSC partial to English, asks Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Saturday questioned the importance given to English in examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), as opposed to Indian languages.

The UPSC conducts examinations through which candidates are recruited to the civil services and defence forces.

"I fail to understand why so much importance is given to the English language in UPSC examinations, even more than Indian languages including Hindi and Urdu," Nitish Kumar said at a function here.

The Bihar chief minister said that changes made by the UPSC in the examination format in 2011 and again in 2013 have made things even more difficult for students with a non-English background. "This is an unfortunate matter," he said.

Nitish Kumar said the English language was being imposed in different ways by authorities.

The chief minister remarked that the fact was that neither in the market nor in politics was English really any help.

"In the market, Indian languages are dominating. English serves no purpose to sell products in the country," he said.

"No political party can take a risk and campaign in English, instead of an Indian language," he said.

Nitish Kumar demanded that governments at the centre and the states seriously consider how to offer justice to students who write their examinations in Indian languages, rather than English.