Job Aspirants Found Involved In Vandalism To Be Barred From Recruitment, Warns Railways

In a stern warning, Indian Railways has said that the job aspirants found indulging in unlawful activities may face lifetime debarment from obtaining a railway job.

"It has come to notice that aspirants of Railway job have indulged in vandalism/ unlawful activities like protesting on Railway Tracks, disruption of Train Operations, damaging Railway Properties etc., mentioned Ministry of Railways in a Public Notice released yesterday (25 January).

The notice states that such misguided activities are the highest level of indiscipline rendering such aspirants unsuitable for railway/government jobs. Videos of such activities will be examined with the help of specialised agencies and candidates/aspirants found indulged in unlawful activities will be liable for police action as well as lifetime debarment from obtaining a railway job.

The notice further mentioned that Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) are committed to conduct a fair and transparent recruitment process maintaining the highest standards of integrity.

Railway job aspirants/candidates are advised not to be misguided or come under the influence of such elements who are trying to use them for fulfilling their own selfish ends.

The notice came a day after railway job aspirants squatted on tracks at different places in Bihar, including the state capital Patna, to protest alleged erroneous results of Railway Recruitment Board's non-technical popular categories (RRB NTPC) exam.

The protests, which continued till late in the evening on Monday, resulted in the cancellation of at least five long-distance trains originating from Patna. Routes of some other trains were diverted as the youth blocked tracks at Rajendra Nagar Terminal.

The controversy over the exam arose as many candidates claimed the screening process is designed to favour those with higher qualification, even in jobs that require lesser qualification.

The railways maintain that it has also got in touch with coaching centres to urge them to spread awareness among candidates.

The railways had started the process to fill 35,281 posts of which 24,281 posts in 13 categories were open to graduates and 11,000 posts in six categories were for undergraduates.

These posts included that of train assistant, guard, junior clerk, time keeper and station master across its various zones.

Aspirants have alleged that during the computer based test -1 which were held last year, candidates with higher qualification have sat for exams meant for Level 2 jobs.

According to the railways, it cannot stop an aspirant with higher qualification from sitting for an exam with lower qualification requirement.

In a clarification, the railways has said that no candidate can be recruited for multiple posts thereby ensuring that every deserving candidate gets selected.

It said short-listing of candidates has been done separately for each level based on educational qualifications and options exercised by the candidates.