CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday alleged a blatant imposition of Sanskrit in the recruitment of Assistant Curator (Archaeology) through the combined technical services examination of the TNPSC.

In a notification, TNPSC has invited online applications for direct recruitment to the posts in the Combined Technical Services Examination for the post of Assistant Curator (Archaeology). For that, a candidate must have a degree in Sanskrit with a knowledge of Dravidian languages and Ancient Indian History.

“Inscriptions studied by the Department of Archeology include the use of Granth script. But, people with knowledge of archaeology and knowledge of Tamil can understand the Granth language better. It does not require a degree in Sanskrit. In Tamil Nadu, none of the high-ranking archaeologists studied Sanskrit and joined the work,” Anbumani said. “Even the selection rules for archaeology jobs do not mention Sanskrit as compulsory,” he added.

Pointing out that the state government’s official position is that Sanskrit is an obsolete language, he demanded the state to immediately withdraw the recruitment notification issued by TNPSC and make classical Tamil a compulsory qualification.