Bengaluru, March 17: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah criticized the Railway Department on Tuesday for abruptly canceling examinations meant for the promotion of railway employees. This decision came in response to protests from Kannada organizations, which argued that employees were not given the option to take the exams in Kannada.
Siddaramaiah pointed out that examinations for 194 Goods Train Manager positions in South Western Railway and 101 Limited Departmental Competitive Exams (LDCE) in the Hubli division were suddenly called off, causing confusion and concern among Kannada-speaking employees.
He noted that thousands of Kannada-speaking railway staff had previously expressed their discontent over the lack of an opportunity to take the exam in their mother tongue, but the Railway Department ignored their peaceful protests and appeals from employees and organizations.
The Chief Minister stated that the sudden cancellation of the exams created significant difficulties for Kannada employees. He emphasized that if the Railway Department had acknowledged the issue earlier and allowed the exams to be conducted in Kannada, this situation could have been avoided. He condemned the department for disregarding the concerns of Kannada employees.
Siddaramaiah also accused several central departments of discriminating against Kannada job seekers, as the central policy prioritizes only Hindi. He expressed disappointment that this issue arose while Karnataka’s V. Somanna serves as the Minister of State for Railways, calling it extremely unfortunate that the Railway Department adopted an anti-Kannada stance and did injustice to Karnataka and its Kannada speakers.
He urged Somanna to stand up for Kannada speakers and assist in resolving the issue. The Chief Minister also appealed to the central government to ensure that language-based discrimination against Kannada-speaking candidates does not occur in the future.
Siddaramaiah requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and direct the relevant departments to take strict actions. He also demanded that the canceled railway exams be conducted as soon as possible, providing candidates with the option to take the exam in Kannada.