Controversy
over Konkani compulsion in jobs
Sandesh Prabhudesai
11 December 2002
The
issue of making knowledge of Konkani compulsory
for government jobs has erupted once again with
some language fanatics objecting to the Goa Konkani
Academy issuing certificates in this regard to
the candidates applying for government jobs.
The issue was raised by two Marathi
dailies - Gomantak and Tarun Bharat - by strongly
objecting to the system. As per the government
instructions, the GKA has been conducting tests
and issuing certificates to the Goan candidates
for the last five years.
"It had helped in prohibiting
the non-Goan candidates from getting government
jobs in large numbers", points out Adv Uday
Bhembre, the outgoing GKA president. He feels
this provision should not be mixed up with the
ongoing language controversy.
However, both thes Marathi dailies
subsequently also published that the provision
of GKA was scrapped with transport minister Pandurang
Madkaikar taking up the issue with chief minister
Manohar Parrikar.
Officials in the concerned department
however disclose that no such written instructions
have been issued so far nor there is any oral
instruction to withdraw the provision. However,
neither Parrikar nor Madkaikar have denied reports
published by the two Marathi dailies.
Following the controversy, several
Marathi protagonist organisations have also condemned
the act of making knowledge of Konkani essential
in jobs. In fact they view it as an act to strangulate
Marathi, the mother tongue of 70 per cent Goans.
Premanand Gajvi, famous Marathi
playwright from Maharashtra, however ridiculed
such attempts in the name of Marathi, while inaugurating
the three-day Fifth Youth Konkani Literary Conference
at Mashem in Canacona taluka last weekend.
"Every Goan having sense of
pride should fight to make provision of Konkani
more stringent to protect interest of the locals",
said Gajvi, while appealing to the young student
writers to fight for their right.
The student participants later responded
positively by unanimously passing a resolution,
after debating over the issue on the third day.
"In fact these provisions should be made
more stringent when thousands of new Government
jobs are being created due to retirement of thousands
of employees from this year", demanded the
Meet.
However, playing a similar tune
of the two Marathi dailies, ruling BJP general
secretary Govind Parvatkar even demanded that
the government should find out which officer played
the mischief of introducing such a provision.
According to Prashant Naik, the
Goa Hit Rakhan Manch spokesman, withdrawing of
such provisions will prove suicidal when lakhs
of non-Goans have already intruded in the state,
at the cost of keeping the local youth unemployed.
He has threatened to launch statewide agitation
if the provision is withdrawn.
Pundalik Naik, the newly taken over
GKA chief, however disclosed that unemployed youth
continued thronging the GKA office to obtain certificates
of knowledge of Konkani. "It even included
BJP vice president Subhash Salkar with his job-seeking
daughter", he revealed.
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