In the face of widespread protests by Kannada outfits, objecting to the participation of aspirants from other states, the South Western Railways has suspended its drive to recruit 4,700 'Group D' employees for three months.

The decision to defer the recruitment process was in response to a request by the Home Department, Praveen Kumar, General Manager of South Western Railways, said.

Activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike had started an agitation on January 3, when the recruitment process began in Hubli, Bangalore and Mysore, alleging that Kannadiga youth had got a raw deal in the recruitment, as a majority of candidates came from Bihar, Jharkhand and other states.

The recruitment process was carried out till January 8.

Kumar said that 623 out of the total of 1,746 candidates selected were from Karnataka, while 124 were from Bihar. The remaining were from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa [Images].

The Railways had also rejected the allegation of the Vedike and stated that transparency was maintained and that the recruitment process was well advertised in the local media.