Mysuru: Union Minister of State for Railway V. Somanna has said that  job aspirants can now write competitive examinations conducted by Railway Department in Kannada also.

The Minister was speaking at the valedictory of National Farmers Day (also known as Kisan Diwas, celebrated across the nation to observe the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh), jointly organised by Federation of State Farmers’ Association, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Hasiru Sene and State Sugarcane Growers Association at KSOU Convocation Hall in city  on Monday.

“Youths of Karnataka are not showing interest in joining Indian Railways. There are about 12 lakh employees in Railways and in South India, about  99 percent of the staff are North Indians. After assuming office,  I requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give permission for the job aspirants to write Railway examinations in Kannada so that more  Kannadigas can get employment in Railways. PM has agreed to my request and youth from Karnataka can now competitive examinations conducted by the Railways in Kannada. But not many are showing interest” said Minister Somanna and appealed children of farmers to join the Railway Department.

Referring to the farmers protest near New Delhi, Somanna regretted that, it is sad that farmers are still struggling as agriculture is not economically viable even after 75 years of Independence.

“The Central Government is never against farmers. It will function as per the aspirations of the agrarian community,” added the Union Minister and advised farmers to peacefully negotiate their demands with the Government.

MLA T.S. Srivatsa, farmer leaders from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana were present.