Language barrier under SBI for Naga candidates

State Bank of India(SBI) has posted online advertisement for “recruitment of circle-based officers” for the entire North Eastern states- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura excluding Sikkim) to fill up a total of 100 (one hundred)vacancies.
Application and payment of fees will be accepted from May 9, 2025 to May 29, 2025. Download of call letters for online test will be available in July (tentatively) and online test will be held within July itself (tentative).
The most crucial part of the selection process is oral interview where candidates who qualify in the written test will be tested for knowledge of the specified opted local language, conducted as part of selection process.
Candidates from every state in India including those in the North East, will be tested for proficiency of a common dialect or language. For example Assamese and Bodo languages for candidates from Assam; Mizo language for candidates from Mizoram; Garo and Khasi languages for candidates from Meghalaya; Kokborok and Bengali for candidates from Tripura. However, candidates from any of the 17 tribes of Nagaland stand disqualified even before sitting for written test because neither English nor Nagamese are mentioned in the advertisement and offered for oral interview though both are commonly used throughout Nagaland.
Candidates who produce 10th and 12th standard mark sheet/certificate indicating they have studied the specified opted local language (as listed above) and as one of the subjects of the applied circle, will not be required to undergo language test.
Candidates who fail to qualify the test will not be offered appointment.
Meanwhile, among states in the North East, Nagaland has the lowest percentage of job holders under State Bank of India (SBI) even though there is much lamented about lack of employment opportunities.
It may be noted that regular vacancies under ‘Junior Associates’ is high in the region with 70 vacancies for Nagaland till May 2025.