Railways, roads bear brunt of mass protests

Railways, roads bear brunt of mass protests
Thursday January 10 2008 09:36 IST

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Members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists staging dharna at the office of Divisional Railway Manager

BANGALORE: The protest by Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) opposing the alleged discrimination against Kannadigas in the recruitment for D-group post, took a serious turn on Wednesday as KRV activists raided the office of Divisional Railway Manager Mahesh Mangal, forced the staff out, and locked it up.

Police arrested 57 activists and reopened the office. They further attacked the Railways’ examination centre in Yeshwantpur and disrupted the examination process.

The protest also hit traffic on the city roads. The protest had a cascading effect and the Jayamahal Road, JC Road and Sankey Road and all the crossroads to them getting clogged for most of the day.

The traffic on Jayamahal Road - Queen’s Road route could not move while the traffic on Race Course Road, Palace Road and Sankey Road was hit as activists gathered near the DRM’s office. More than 200 activists had gathered.

Following the pileup of traffic, roads near Majestic, Nrupathunga Road, KG Road, Palace Road and JC Road faced congestion. Motorists faced the problem till late afternoon and were forced to halt for more than 45 minutes at every junction on these roads.

South Western Railways (SWR) is recruiting 4700 D Group men and a physical fitness test for the same started on December 3, 2007.

KRV activists stormed the venue where the test was being conducted and alleged that the locals were ignored and aspirants from Bihar, the home state of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, were in large numbers.

Despite repeated clarification from the SWR that the process of selection is free and fair - as per the employment notice published in Kannada newspapers - KRV members continued their protest.

According to them, candidates from Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were also attending the recruitment, which would deny the opportunity to the locals.

The physical tests are being held in Bangalore, Mysore and Hubli and KRV staged protests in all these places.