Facing heat from the Opposition in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav announced the withdrawal of a controversial order directing that names of trains and stations should be written in Hindi and English, along with Tamil in Tamil Nadu.
Raising the matter during Zero Hour, BJD member B K Tripathy read out a circular by the Railway Board and said that the Ministry should follow the three-language formula throughout the country, instead of implementing it only in Tamil Nadu.  This prompted vociferous protests from members of Bharatiya Janata Party and other parties, forcing Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn proceedings for 40 minutes.

On firm ground
When the House re-assembled, the protests continued with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi assuring the House that the government was clear in its stand on the matter. “We have to respect all languages without any discrimination. We will actively address the issue at the appropriate level. There should be no apprehensions in the future,” he said.
When the Opposition’s demand for withdrawing the circular persisted, Dasmunsi said he would bring the matter to the notice of the Railway Minister.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said that the opinions of the different sections of the House “cannot be ignored” and the established three-language practice should be followed. At this stage, Lalu Prasad Yadav entered the House and announced that he was withdrawing the circular.
He said his Ministry would rethink the whole matter while taking everyone’s opinion into consideration. The Minister said he respected all languages.
He made a particular mention of Karnataka, saying that there were protests in the southern state some time ago because the railways sought to impose English and Hindi at the cost of Kannada.