Su Venkatesan flays Railway circular on Hindi loco pilot

CHENNAI: CPI (Marxist) MP Su Venkatesan on Monday flayed the Southern Railway (SR) for issuing a circular insisting that a Hindi-speaking train crew be deputed for the inaugural run of the Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat express.

Condemning Chennai Railway Division for issuing such an order, Venkatesan, who also posted a copy of the order issued by the division on his official Twitter handle, said, "Vande Bharat train or Vande Hindi train? It is a practice to engage senior loco pilots during the inauguration of new train services. But, railway management has change the practice and issued orders to engage Hindi-speaking loco pilots for the inauguration of the Chennai – Coimbatore Vande Bharat train to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Alleging that senior loco pilots have been ignored for not knowing Hindi, the Marxist MP said, "The decision of Chennai Railway Division is condemnable. Annul the Hindi-imposition order immediately, " tagging the official verified Twitter handle of the general manager of Southern Railway.

Significantly, it was evident from the copy of the circular shared by the MP that the crew and guards being made available for the inaugural run shall be fluent in English, Tamil and Hindi.