Politicos oppose other state candidates, but foreigners eligible

While Tamil Nadu also follows the Union Public Service Commission’s eligibility criteria for the recruitment, neighbouring states like Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana accept candidature only of citizens of India.

According to instructions to candidates uploaded by TNPSC, the applicant should be a citizen of India or a subject of Nepal or Bhutan or a Tibetan refugee who migrated to India before January 1, 1962. “Or a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia with the intention of permanently settling in India,” it said.

Tamil Nadu Government Employee’s Association general secretary M Anbarasan blamed the enactment of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act 2016, which allowed candidature of Nepal and Bhutan and Tibetan refugees, to apply through TNPSC.

“On September 15, 2016, the bill whose provisions affected the employment opportunities of the state youths was passed in the Tamil Nadu assembly without any opposition from the legislators,” he said, demanding the State government to amend the act to do away the provisions. Anbarasan added that employment of a person from other states or another country in a government department would affect its functioning. “How will a common man communicate with non-Tamil government staff at field level? It will only affect the functioning of the department,” he said.

K Nanthakumar, secretary, TNPSC, told DT Next, “Recruitment is done as per the act of the State government and the constitutional provisions. All other public service commissions too follow the same rules,” adding, “It is not easy for the other state candidates to clear the exams as their proficiency in TN’s language and grammar will be tested.”

When asked about admitting applicants from Nepal and Bhutan and persons of Indian origin, he said that the public service commissions in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra also admit such candidates. Pointing out that over 40 lakh candidates appeared for the recruitment exams conducted by the commission last year, he said only 18,000 candidates were selected. “Of them, only 15 to 20 were from other states. They will be given two years from the date of appointment to clear the Tamil language test. If he/she fails to pass, he/she will be discharged from service,” he said.