Only the candidates who have studied in Tamil medium from primary school onwards will be accorded preference in direct recruitment under the ‘Persons Studied in Tamil Medium’ (PSTM) quota, according to a Bill tabled by the government in the Assembly on Monday.
The Bill seeks to amend the Tamil Nadu Appointment on preferential basis in the Services under the State of PSTM Act, 2010. Until now, persons who had obtained the “prescribed educational qualification” for direct recruitment through Tamil medium of instruction were eligible for getting preference in direct recruitment. The amendment is being brought in as the government had come across instances where candidates who had obtained only the final prescribed educational qualification in Tamil medium were applying under the PSTM quota for direct recruitment. For instance, for a post for which the prescribed qualification is graduation, the candidate would have obtained a degree in Tamil medium through distance education, despite having studied in English medium in school and college. The Bill, introduced by Minister for Personnel and Administrative Reforms D. Jayakumar, will be taken up for consideration during the ongoing session.
In cases where SSLC is the prescribed educational qualification, the candidate should have studied up to SSLC in Tamil medium. In cases where HSC is the prescribed qualification, the candidate should have obtained SSLC as well as HSC in Tamil medium. The same condition would apply to other cases, where the prescribed qualification is diploma, degree or postgraduation.
4% quota
Another Bill introduced by Mr. Jayakumar sought to ensure 4% reservation for the differently-abled in government jobs. Though the government had announced such a quota earlier, some provisions of the relevant Act were posing obstacles to its implementation.
The proposed legislation intends to make necessary amendments to relevant Acts to implement the G.O.s issued earlier. The government had earlier announced examinations for candidates for government service who do not possess the minimum general educational qualification of SSLC. It had also issued a G.O. to replace the chairman of the Equivalence Committee — currently being headed by the TNPSC chairman — for considering requests from educational institutions for issuance of equivalence to the courses offered by them for the purpose of appointment in public services. As per the G.O., the Secretary of the Higher Education Department will be the chairman.
