The Global Konknni Forum (GKF) has strongly opposed the Goa government’s recent de cision to make passing a Konkani language paper— written exclusively in the Devanagari script—compul sory for all candidates apply ing for government jobs. The Forum has con demned the move as a cal culated attempt to suppress the Roman script, which it says has long preserved Goa’s linguistic and cultural identity. In a statement issued by Secretary Jose Salvador Fer nandes, the Forum said that while Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has justified the de cision as a way to prioritise Goan youth in public sector employment, it effectively discriminates against thou sands of Goans fluent in Konkani written in the Ro man script. “This decision represents a grave injustice to can didates who do not know Devanagari but are well versed with Roman-script Konkani,” Fernandes said, adding that the move “car ries undertones of commu nal bias.” The GKF criticised the gov ernment for continuing to ig nore the Roman script in the Official Language Act (OLA), describing the Act as “one of the greatest betrayals of the 21st century.” The Forum as serted that the State has “no moral right” to deny employ ment opportunities to Goans who use the Roman script, which has contributed richly to Goa’s literature, journal ism, and Tiatr culture. To ensure fairness, the Forum urged the govern ment to first introduce Romi Konkani as an optional medi um of instruction in schools. Only then, it said, could the State justifiably conduct a compulsory Konkani exam for government recruitment. The Forum also demanded that the OLA be amended to define Konkani as “written in both Devanagari and Ro man scripts,” a change it said would correct decades of lin guistic injustice. Highlighting the govern ment’s own promotion of Tiatr—the Goan perform ing art deeply rooted in Ro man-script Konkani—the Forum questioned the in consistency in policy. “If the Chief Minister tru ly supports Tiatr’s bid for a UNESCO World Heritage tag, his government should also recognise the script that sustains it,” Fernandes re marked. Until the long-standing script conflict is resolved, the Forum has appealed to the Chief Minister to instruct the Staff Selection Com mission not to enforce the Devanagari-only rule. It fur ther urged that examination papers be made available in both scripts, allowing can didates to choose their pre ferred medium
Global Konknni Forum Slams Devanagari-Only Konkani Exam for Govt Jobs in Goa
