In a landmark decision under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Home Affairs has approved conducting Constable (General Duty) examination for Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in 13 regional languages, in addition to Hindi and English.
Among the 13 regional languages, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has also decided to approve the CAPF exam to be held in Assamese.
The historic decision has been taken at the initiative of the Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah to give impetus to participation of local youth in the CAPF and encourage regional languages.
In a press statement, MHA said that the decision will result in lakhs of aspirants taking part in the examination in their mother tongue/regional language and improve their selection prospects.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs and Staff Selection Commission would sign an addendum to the existing MoU to facilitate the conduct of the examination in multiple Indian languages," reads the statement.
Constable GD is one of flagship examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission attracting lakhs of candidates from across the country. The examination in 13 regional languages in addition to Hindi and English will be conducted from January 01, 2024 onwards.
States/UT governments are expected to launch wide campaign encouraging local youths to use this opportunity of taking the examination in their mother tongue and participate in huge numbers to make a career serving the country, the MHA said.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guidance of Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah is fully committed to encouraging use and development of regional languages," the press statement by the MHA added.
In addition to Hindi and English, the question paper will be set in the following 13 regional languages:
i. Assamese
ii. Bengali
iii. Gujarati
iv. Marathi
v. Malayalam
vi. Kannada
vii. Tamil
viii. Telugu
ix. Odia
x. Urdu
xi. Punjabi
xii. Manipuri
xiii. Konkani
Meanwhile, The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has called MHA decision to conduct the Constable (GD) CAPF exams in 13 regional languages also as 'pathbreaking'.
The Prime Minister responded to the Home Minister office tweet: "A pathbreaking decision, which will give wings to the aspirations of our youth! This is a part of our various efforts to ensure language is not seen as a barrier in fulfilling one’s dreams."
