An evaluation conducted by the Kannada Studies Centre at Bangalore University has uncovered significant errors in the Kannada paper of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) pre-re-examination for the recruitment of 384 KAS officers. Approximately 45 to 50 percent of the questions were flawed, with 55 errors identified—23 deemed serious and 32 minor. According to D. Dominic, Director of the Kannada Studies Centre, the mistakes likely stemmed from poorly executed translations by individuals with insufficient proficiency in Kannada, emphasizing that the errors could have been avoided if subject experts had handled the task.
Dominic criticized the practice of preparing question papers in English and translating them into Kannada, arguing that the papers should be crafted in Kannada to ensure accuracy and better serve Kannada-speaking communities. He noted that translation errors led to unclear questions, misuse of terminology, and structural issues, creating confusion among candidates. For example, words like “judgment” were mistranslated as “decision,” and “land” became “place area.” Dominic advocated for leveraging Kannada’s extensive vocabulary to eliminate such inconsistencies and ensure the quality of examinations.
The Karnataka State Students’ Organization echoed these concerns, highlighting 32 additional errors in Paper 1 and calling for the examination to be reconducted or all candidates allowed to progress to the main exam. They argued that the errors were unjust to Kannada-speaking candidates and announced a protest on January 16 to demand reforms within the KPSC. Dominic reiterated the need for subject experts to directly prepare Kannada question papers, ensuring precision and fairness in the examination process.
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