‘No Kannada, no exam’: Why railway recruitment exam sparked protests in Karnataka

Departmental exams for nearly 300 posts were disrupted in multiple centres after protests over exclusion of Kannada as a language option

The South Western Railway (SWR) has postponed a recruitment examination scheduled for Tuesday (March 17), after protests by Kannada activists broke out near exam centres in several parts of Karnataka.

As the protests intensified, the Railway Recruitment Cell (RRC) called off the exam in several centres, including Hubballi, while clarity is still awaited on the status of examination at Bengaluru centres, with fresh dates expected to be announced later.

The protests were sparked by the decision to conduct the exam without Kannada as an option, drawing strong reactions from candidates and pro-Kannada organisations across the state.

What led to the controversy

The row began a few days before the exam was scheduled, when it was announced that departmental promotion exams for 295 posts in the railways would be held only in Hindi and English. These included 194 posts for Goods Train Manager, and 101 posts under the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (LDCE) in the Hubballi sub-division.

The examination was intended for the promotion of existing railway employees, not fresh recruitment, and was to be conducted as a two-hour computer-based test (CBT) across multiple centres in Karnataka.

Following this, pro-Kannada group Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) called for statewide protests under the slogan “No Kannada, No Exam,” bringing the issue into sharp public focus.

What is the core issue?

At the centre of the controversy is the exclusion of Kannada as an exam language in Karnataka. Candidates and activists have argued that being required to write the exam in Hindi or English can affect speed, comprehension, and overall performance, particularly for those who are not equally fluent in these languages.

They have also pointed out that this creates a systemic disadvantage for Kannada-speaking employees, raising concerns about fairness in promotion processes within a state-based workforce.

The situation was further aggravated by the timing of the announcement, with candidates reportedly being informed about the language restriction only shortly before the exam.

What happened during the protests?

Following the call by KRV, protests were reported on Tuesday morning in Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mysuru, Mandya and other parts of the state. Demonstrators gathered outside railway stations and exam centres, raising slogans and demanding that Kannada be included as an option.

Visuals from multiple locations showed large groups assembling near centres, with some attempting to disrupt the conduct of the examination. In Bengaluru, several protesters who had gathered outside exam venues were detained by the police.

Speaking to ANI, a member of KRV said, “It is not the first time the central government has neglected Kannada and people who are writing exams in Kannada. They are forcing Karnataka people to write exams in Hindi and English related to the railway department, which is unfair.”

This controversy reflects a recurring concern in Karnataka regarding the exclusion of regional languages in central recruitment processes. Similar complaints have been raised in the past over railway examinations for posts such as Assistant Loco Pilot and Station Master, where Kannada was either not included or implemented inconsistently across centres.

The group also highlighted that during the recruitment to over 4,000 Group ‘D’ posts in 2008, attempts were made to fill all the posts with candidates from Bihar, which was stopped following protests.