Bangalore, Aug 27:Karnataka may be contributing one-third of India’s annual software exports, but it is still far behind some of the north-eastern states when it comes to competing in job tests by central government-owned entities.
According to 2011 IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) ranking list, Karnataka was number 28, above Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh but below Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Nagaland, in terms of the percentage of people who applied in comparison with the state population.
Karnataka’s percentage was a dismal at 0.00842 (5149 applied from Karnataka, which has a population of more than 6.11 crore), shade better than Mizoram (0.00788) and Arunachal Pradesh (0.00702).
Kannada Development Authority Chairman “Mukhyamantri” Chandru, who released the details at a press conference here today, expressed concern over significant drop in job opportunities for Kannadigas in central government-owned companies and organisations such as banks and post offices.
He blamed lack of awareness, poor computer literacy andknowledge of English language for the slide, noting that most firms allow only online application, and condemned the practice of having only English and Hindi options for writing competitive exams, and not in recognised regional languages.
Now, the KDA in coordination with the Labour and Employment and Education Departments and workers federations are putting together a campaign to train eligible Kannadigas on filing applications and facing examinations for the coming tests, called by IBPS to fill 10,000 vacancies in nationalised banks.
