Include Kannada in competitive exams

Sir, The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), Bangalore, has published an advertisement for various posts to be filled for South Western Railway and for the rail wheel factory.

There is great injustice meted out to Kannadigas, which unfortunately, we are not aware of. These examinations are conducted only in two languages, ie, in Hindi and in English. A Kannadiga has to participate in these exams either learning Hindi or English. Whereas a candidate from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other places need not learn another language apart from Hindi.

We have to remember that lakhs of Kannadigas are appearing and excelling in competitive examinations conducted by State commissions such as KPSC.

There also exists a provision for three language system. The RRB Bangalore should be urged, compelled and forced to conduct all the exams henceforth in three languages.

DATTATREYA
Mysore

Tall claims

Sir, Replying to the discussions on the railway budget, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad has hoped to leave behind a surplus of around Rs one lakh crore by the end of his term. With the drastic revision in fares in different classes and increasing the number of coaches in trains he may achieve his ambition without any difficulty. Introduction of Tatkal reservation will also augment the revenue. But the railway coaches will be cramped with more passengers and stink without adequate toilets. The minister is artfully betraying the gullible masses by making tall claims about  his administrative skills.

V Kameswaran
Chennai

Coins supply

Sir, While 25 paise coins have almost disappeared from circulation, at present 50 paise coins and even Rs 1 coins are becoming scarce with the result that shopkeepers are handing over toffees in lieu of these coins. In view of this, the Reserve Bank of India should put into circulation a large number of these coins as they did sometime back and also give wide publicity in local newspapers that coins of all the above denominations are still being circulated.

L MENEZES
Bangalore

Goof-up

Sir, If the Air Traffic Control (ATC) cannot be brought into use before the scheduled opening day, why haven’t all the bigwigs who have been visiting Bengaluru International Airport categorically said so right in the beginning? Why all this hesitation in postponing the opening of the airport? Or is it because some government department, possibly the Airports Authority of India (AAI), has goofed up and no one wants to come clean on this?

N K Raghavendran
Bangalore

Due credit

Sir, The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) is to be blamed for the poor show, the eight time gold medalists are surprisingly out of the Beijing Olympics. The sub continent hockey is in doldrums as the traditional mode has taken a beating and our players are finding it difficult to adopt to the European style. The IHF will have to set its house in order quickly and ensure that our national game gets its due credit.

K AMUL CHANDER
Bangalore

Doubts remain

Sir, The strike call given by the Airport Authority Employees Joint forum against closure of the existing Bangalore and Hyderabad airports should be supported by all. The government action of invoking Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) is unjustified. Why should we go for private funding when it has surplus funds? The business angle of monopolising passenger traffic and ancillary business activities needs to be investigated.

Sridhar S
Bangalore