The South Western Railway has announced the immediate postponement of its internal departmental examinations following widespread protests led by the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike. Demonstrations at examination centres in Hubballi disrupted proceedings, with activists halting tests over demands that they be conducted in the Kannada language.
The examinations, intended to facilitate promotions under the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination quota for posts such as Goods Train Manager, were originally scheduled to be conducted in English and Hindi.
Tensions escalated when members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, aligned with the Narayana Gowda faction, staged a blockade at a computer-based testing centre in Keshwapur. Protesters argued that conducting examinations exclusively in English and Hindi undermines local candidates and restricts professional advancement opportunities for Kannadigas within the railway system. The group called for the cancellation of the current examination cycle and demanded that future tests be conducted in Kannada.
The issue quickly gained political traction, with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah criticising the Union Government over what he described as the continued imposition of Hindi in central recruitment processes. In a strongly worded statement, he asserted that denying examinations in regional languages constitutes an affront to Karnataka’s linguistic identity and urged authorities to uphold the federal principle of respecting India’s linguistic diversity.
Amid escalating tensions and in the interest of maintaining public order, Railway Recruitment Cell Chairman Asif Ansari issued an official directive deferring the examinations indefinitely. Hundreds of candidates who had arrived for the scheduled tests were turned away.
Railway authorities clarified that any decision regarding the inclusion of regional languages in examinations would require approval at higher administrative levels. The South Western Railway has indicated that revised dates will be announced in due course as the situation is reassessed.
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