By Shreyanka Nandan
On 7th March 2025, Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, during his visit in recently renamed Rajaditya Chola Recruits Training Centre at Thakkolam, Ranipet district to celebrate CISF Day emphasised on regional language. He mentioned that there was no place for mother tongue in the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), thus, examinations were also not conducted in regional languages. But now Prime Minister Narendra Modi, imposed instructions that for the welfare of students, tests will be now available in all languages enumerated in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, enabling Tamil Nadu youth to appear for them in Tamil.
At the occasion, Mr. Shah called for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to implement medical and engineering education through Tamil, based on the cases of other states that have initiated regional language courses in these two disciplines. He pointed out that his request had gone unanswered for two years and hoped for a positive response.
Status of Tamil Medium in Engineering Education
Tamil Nadu has already tried to introduce Tamil medium engineering education. In 2010, with then-Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at the helm, the government launched Tamil medium teaching for Bachelor’s degrees in Civil and Mechanical Engineering in Anna University’s constituent colleges. Undergraduate engineering examination question papers were also provided in both Tamil and English.
These programs sought to motivate students in Tamil medium from higher secondary schools to become engineers. While conducting Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions counselling in 2010, Karunanidhi observed that 149 students had chosen to enroll in Tamil medium courses and hoped for increased intake. The same year, the DMK administration implemented a 20% quota in government jobs in the state for students educated in Tamil medium.
Yet, the student strength for Tamil medium engineering courses went down gradually. In May 2023, Anna University closed Tamil medium courses in 11 constituent colleges owing to the low intake. After protests from people, the Higher Education Minister stepped in, and the move was shelved. The university subsequently investigated providing Tamil medium for Computer Science and Engineering, for which there was greater demand. In support, it started translating study materials into Tamil.
A 2021 survey conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) showed that 12,487 undergraduate students across the country would opt to learn engineering in Tamil if they had the choice.
Tamil Medium in Medical Education
The concept of Tamil medium medical education originated in 2010 when Karunanidhi made a declaration to implement it after introducing Tamil medium engineering courses. But, the move did not come into effect after the DMK lost government in 2011.
In October 2022, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said that the government was making efforts to provide medical education in Tamil and would insist on a Tamil medium medical college in Chennai. Attempts were made to get medical textbooks translated into Tamil. In December 2022, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also pushed for medical and allied health courses to be conducted in Tamil.
Tamil in Paramilitary Force Exams
In April 2023, M.K. Stalin objected to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) move to hold constable recruitment exams in Hindi and English alone. He requested Amit Shah to add Tamil and other local languages to provide equal opportunities for candidates who are not Hindi speakers. The CRPF initially declined, citing that it had never held in-house recruitment exams in local languages. But after intervention by the Ministry of Home Affairs, CAPF exams, including the CRPF, BSF, and CISF exams, have been held in 13 regional languages, including Tamil, since January 1, 2024.