Bilingual Corrigendum on an Examination Postponement
A district office in Almora must issue a bilingual corrigendum before 5 p.m. today because the written examination for 84 posts of assistant accountant, fixed for 12 March, has been postponed. A junior clerk drafts the Hindi text as: 'सभी अभ्यर्थियों को सूचित किया जाता है कि दिनांक 12 मार्च की परीक्षा की तिथि को स्थगित कर दिया गया है। नई तिथि की सूचना पृथक से दी जायेगी। परीक्षा में प्रवेश पत्र लेकर उपस्थित होना अनिवार्य है।' The English version is also required, and the clerk proposes: 'All the candidates is hereby informed that the date of examination is postponed due to administrative reason. Neither the candidates nor the supervisor were informed earlier. Candidates are requested to bring their admit card.' The section officer asks you to correct both drafts and to decide whether the notice should say 'आवश्यक' or 'अनिवार्य', and whether 'सूचित किया जाता है' or a direct sentence is better for a notice that will be read both on a notice board and on the website.
1. Correct the Hindi draft and justify each correction.
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1. 'परीक्षा की तिथि को स्थगित कर दिया गया है' - wrong on two counts. A date cannot be postponed; the examination is postponed. And 'परीक्षा' is feminine, so the passive must agree: 'कर दी गई', not 'कर दिया गया'. Corrected: 'दिनांक 12 मार्च को होने वाली परीक्षा स्थगित कर दी गई है।'
2. 'स्थगित' versus 'रद्द'. Keep 'स्थगित' - the examination is deferred, not cancelled. A notice that leaves this ambiguous will produce a wave of enquiries and, worse, absentees who assume cancellation.
3. 'पृथक से' → 'पृथक रूप से' or simply 'अलग से'. 'पृथक से' is not idiomatic; the standard official form is 'पृथक रूप से'.
4. 'दी जायेगी' → 'दी जाएगी'. The shorter matra form is the current standard in government drafting.
5. 'अनिवार्य' is the right word here. 'अनिवार्य' = mandatory (no option); 'आवश्यक' = necessary/required. Carrying the admit card is a condition of entry, so 'अनिवार्य' is correct; use 'आवश्यक' for things like identity verification where the force is weaker.
6. Logical repair. As drafted, the admit-card sentence appears to apply to 12 March, the date just cancelled. Add: 'नई तिथि पर परीक्षा में प्रवेश पत्र तथा मूल पहचान पत्र लेकर उपस्थित होना अनिवार्य होगा।'
2. Rewrite the English version, correcting grammar and register, and state the consistency rule you applied between the two languages.
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Errors and fixes:
- 'All the candidates is' → 'All the candidates are' (subject–verb agreement).
- 'the date of examination is postponed' → 'the examination scheduled to be held on 12 March has been postponed'. A date cannot be postponed; also the present perfect is right for an action just completed.
- 'due to administrative reason' → 'owing to administrative reasons' (plural; and 'owing to' is safer than 'due to' in formal drafting, or use 'on administrative grounds').
- 'Neither the candidates nor the supervisor were informed' → 'was informed' - with neither…nor the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Better still, delete the sentence: it is an admission the Hindi draft does not contain.
- 'their admit card' → 'their admit cards'.
Fair draft: 'All candidates are hereby informed that the written examination for 84 posts of assistant accountant, scheduled to be held on 12 March, has been postponed. The new date will be communicated separately. Candidates must carry their admit card and original photo identity to the examination on the revised date.'
Consistency rule: both versions must carry exactly the same facts - 84 posts, 12 March, postponed, new date later, admit card mandatory. Nothing may be added in one language and not the other, and a reason for postponement should not be inserted in English alone.
3. Decide the drafting style for the notice - impersonal passive ('सूचित किया जाता है') or a direct sentence - and justify your choice for a notice board plus website audience.
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Use the impersonal passive once, for the announcement; use direct, short sentences for the instructions.
- The announcement is an act of the office, not of a person, so 'सभी अभ्यर्थियों को सूचित किया जाता है कि…' (or the crisper 'यह सूचित किया जाता है कि…') is appropriate and matches the register examiners expect.
- The operational instructions should not be buried in the same passive chain: 'नई तिथि पृथक रूप से सूचित की जाएगी।' and 'प्रवेश पत्र एवं मूल पहचान पत्र लेकर उपस्थित होना अनिवार्य है।' Passive-heavy notices are skimmed and misread.
Reader test: a notice board is read in ten seconds, so the operative words - 'परीक्षा स्थगित', the date 12 March, and the post count - must be in the first line, in a heading if possible. The website version needs the same first line, because search snippets cut off after it.
Keep out of the notice: the reason for postponement. 'Administrative reasons' invites RTI queries and speculation; a postponement notice does not require a stated cause.
Bilingual placement: put Hindi and English on the same sheet with identical layout and identical dates in figures and words, and have one officer sign both versions so they cannot drift apart.