Raju Bista, the BJP MP of Darjeeling, sent a letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday, flagging the changes made in the choice of regional languages for the West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) exams.

“I have received representations from the Hills Student Union of North Bengal University, and the All Bengal Adivasi Students’ Association. They have highlighted specific discriminatory practices in the revised examination scheme and syllabus. That is why I have sent the letter to the chief minister so that necessary changes can be made,” said Bista.

He pointed out that according to a notification issued by the state government in July 2024, Bengali or Nepali are the two language options that the candidates can choose for the compulsory general paper of the WBCS mains exam.

“Santhali and Hindi have been removed from the options of the compulsory general paper,” pointed out Bista.

“Also, Nepali has been removed from the list of optional subjects, which also includes some regional languages,” added the BJP MP.

He pointed out that because of such a decision, a considerable number of candidates who had studied in Santhali or Hindi medium would not be able to appear in the exams, as they did not know Bengali or even Nepali.

“Also, many candidates from the hills and north Bengal as a whole could opt for Nepali as one of the optional subjects. They do not have that option anymore. It poses a significant barrier to students who have completed their education in Nepali, Santhali or Hindi mediums, and they now find themselves disadvantaged in the state-level competitive exam,” he said.

Last month, an organisation representing tribal students underscored the changes in the language options for the WBCS.

“Many job aspirants from among the tribal community find themselves at a severe disadvantage when they want to appear in the WBCS exam because of this change. We want the state government to provide WBCS aspirants more language options in the compulsory paper, along with Bengali and Nepali,” a tribal student
had said.

The MP said he wanted immediate suspension of this notification.

“In my letter, I also requested that corrective measures be initiated in consultation with affected stakeholders to ensure that students are not penalised for their linguistic background or their medium of education,” said Bista.

The state Public Service Commission conducts competitive examinations for the WBCS in three phases each year — Preliminary, Mains and Personality Test.