New Delhi, Nov 21: Railway Minister Nitish Kumar today met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee here in the wake of violence in Mumbai and Assam over recruitment for railway jobs. Emerging from the 45-minute meeting, Kumar rejected the allegation that people from particular section were being recruited in the railways.

There was total transparency in the recruitment, he told reporters pleading that people should allow peaceful conduct of the examinations by the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) Kumar said even the Prime Minister had said that he should place all the facts related to recruitment before the people.

The minister denied that appointments were being done on the basis of state quota and said the recruitment was as per the guidelines laid down by his ministry on the basis of the Supreme Court verdict of 1998.
Kumar also apprised Vajpayee of the situation in the troubled areas as also the attack on railway offices in Assam and Mumbai over the recruitment drive undertaken by the railways.

He said that on the suggestion of Assam government the recruitment board had postponed the examinations in the north eastern state while in Mumbai it was postponed due to the violence and attack on the railway office there.

Bureau Report