Bengaluru, March 18 -- The South Western Railway on Tuesday postponed departmental promotion examinations across Karnataka following protests over the exclusion of provisions to write the exams in Kannada. Chief minister Siddaramaiah strongly criticising the decision.

In a statement, Siddaramaiah said the abrupt cancellation had left employees in uncertainty. "The Railway Department has abruptly cancelled the promotion examinations scheduled to be held today for 194 Goods Train Manager posts in South Western Railway and 101 LDCE posts in the Hubballi division, placing Kannada employees in uncertainty," he said.

The examinations, part of recruitment in the Hubballi Division to fill 295 posts, were scheduled at centres including Bengaluru...