Thanks to the intervention of Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, the dreams of close to 3,000 people from Hubbali and other parts of north Karnataka who aspired to join the District Armed Reserve (DAR) police force have been restored.
The candidates were at risk of being unable to write the exam for the constable post with the state police due to an unwarranted train delay. The Rani Chennamma Express, which was supposed to reach Bengaluru at 6.25 am on Sunday from Hubbali, reached only at 3 pm, so the job aspirants were unable to reach the venue on time, for no fault of theirs. The exam was held at 10.30 am as scheduled in Bengaluru.
But after learning about the ordeal faced by the job aspirants, the CM not only said that he would ensure the exam was conducted for those who missed it due to the train delay, but also said that the test would be conducted in Hubbali itself.
In a tweet, the CM said, “As the Rani Chennamma Express arrived late in Bangalore, I will ensure re-examination of those who did not write the DAR examination. I will also allow Hubli test centre to conduct it. I will also talk to railway officials to avoid incidents like this events.”
ರಾಣಿ ಚೆನ್ನಮ್ಮ ಎಕ್ಸ್ಪ್ರೆಸ್ ರೈಲು ತಡವಾಗಿ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ತಲುಪಿದ ಕಾರಣ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಡಿಎಆರ್ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಬರೆಯಲು ಆಗದವರಿಗೆ ಮರುಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಗೆ ಅನುವು ಮಾಡಿಕೊಡುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಹುಬ್ಬಳ್ಳಿ ಪರೀಕ್ಷಾ ಕೇಂದ್ರಕ್ಕೂ ಅವಕಾಶ ಮಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಈ ರೀತಿ ಘಟನೆಗಳಾಗದಂತೆ ನಿಗಾ ವಹಿಸಲು ರೈಲ್ವೆ ಸಚಿವರ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ನಾನು ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ.
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) August 5, 2018
Later on Sunday, Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner MN Nagaraj issued a press release informing candidates to submit a copy of their train and hall tickets to the police so that arrangements for the re-examination can be made.
South Western Railway officials attributed the reason for delay to the failure of a goods train engine ahead of the express train on the single track between Kambarganvi and Mugadand and an hour’s delay in acquiring the train from the Central Railways Division.
The engine of the express train was used to clear the tracks by pushing goods train (PJ15) carrying coal bound from Marmagao to Jindal South West.
The office of the Hubbali Divisional Railway Manager in a statement also blamed interference by passengers, who pelted stones and pulled the chain multiple times, for a further three-hour delay in the train’s arrival at Bengaluru. The Railways claimed that if not for the interference by the passengers, the train would have reached Bengaluru by 8.30 am.
“Train was ready for departure but some passengers of Train No. 16590 were agitating and not allowing train movement. Railway Protection Force arrived Kambarganvi at 03:20 hrs. and after cleared the agitators from site, Rani Chennamma Express departed from Kambarganvi at 03:55 hrs. with RPF escort. After train started also, multiple chain pulling incidents occurred and RPF personnel in train monitored regularly to avoid further chain pulling incidents (sic),” the statement said.
However, Railway officials said that they were not going to take legal action against the agitators.