No Bengali in Jharkhand exams leaves students in lurch

Ranchi, March 12 (IANS) Problems being faced by thousands of Bengali students who are not being allowed to take their secondary and higher secondary examinations in the Bengali language was raised in the state assembly Friday.

The examinations began in the last week of February, but the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) is not conducting them in Bengali this year - a decision the students were informed of only a couple of months ago. Till last year the Class 10 and 12 examinations were held in English, Hindi and Bengali.

"In undivided Bihar, the secondary and higher secondary examinations were also held in Bengali despite the fact that the majority of Bengali speaking people live in this region (now Jharkhand). The state government should ensure that the examinations are also conducted in Bengali language," said Arup Chatterji, a Marxist Coordination Committee legislator.

Human Resources Development Minister Hemlal Murmu informed the house: "The Regulation of Examination Code formulated in 2005 says that secondary and higher secondary examinations should take place only in English or in
Hindi."

Annapurna Devi, a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislator, demanded that the 2005 Examination Regulation Code be amended considering the sizeable population of Bengali speaking people in the state.

Assembly Speaker C.P. Singh, supporting the members' view, said: "Considering the sentiments of the members of the house, the state government should consider the issue. In Jharkhand, more than 32 percent population speaks Bengali."

The HRD minister assured he would look into the issue.