Taking a serious note of the fact that the aptitude test for Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY), a national programme of fellowship in basic sciences scheduled for November 7 was to be held only in English and Hindi, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday ordered the examination to remain suspended and postponed for the moment.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice M. Duraiswamy directed the Centre to indicate what steps would be taken to draft adequate manpower so that the examination can be held in multiple Indian languages.
The Centre had submitted that it did not have adequate personnel to assess answers in various languages and when it came to scientific words and terminology it may be difficult to find the equivalent in the local languages. But the judges said they are not acceptable.
Germany, Japan
Citing the example of Germany and Japan, the judges observed that despite English not being spoken in these countries, they were not deficient in science or technology. It is possible for a bright young mind groomed in Assamese or from rural Odisha can come up with brilliant ideas that the Kishore Vaigyanik project aspires to tap into. But merely because the aspirant may not be adept in English or Hindi may not amount to the aspirant being disqualified.
It will not do for the Centre to say it does not have qualified assessors to appreciate the material put up by non-English and non-Hindi speaking aspirants. If at all that is the deficiency with the Centre, the young aspirants from the non-English and non-Hindi speaking belts should not suffer on such grounds, the judges observed.
At the end of the day it must be appreciated even if it is a token scholarship of ₹5,000, it amounts to the recognition of a young mind and every aspirant is entitled to equally participate in the process and show their talent.
The court was hearing the public interest litigation petition filed by G. Thirumurugan of Ramanathapuram district who complained that the aptitude test was going to be held in only English and Hindi. He sought a direction to the authorities to conduct the test in all regional languages. The judges granted the Centre 15 days to respond. The court directed the petition to be listed before the Principal Bench in Chennai.
