Railways Recruitment: Accusations, protests, and a burning train- 10 developments

Pic Courtesy: IANS

New Delhi: After a passenger train was set on fire and another pelted with stones in Bihar during protests against the ‘irregularities’ in Railway Recruitment Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC) exam 2021, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday (January 26) urged job aspirants not to destroy public property. 

Here are the key developments in the story:

1. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw asked aspirants not to destroy their “own property”. Addressing a press conference, he said, "I am telling the aspirants that this is their own property. Why are they destroying something that is their own? However, authorities will follow due process if public property is damaged.” 

2. Vaishnaw assured the Railways is in touch with chief ministers and the issue is being handled "sensitively"."I urge the candidates to put forth their grievances formally. Our intention is to resolve this issue quickly. A committee has been formed and it will examine representations by the candidates," the Railways Minister said. 

3. Aspirants protesting against the ‘irregularities’ in RRB-NTPC exam allegedly set a bogie of the Bhabua-Patna Intercity Express on fire on Wednesday in Bihar’s Gaya. “CBT 2 exam date was not notified; no update on Railway exam which was notified in 2019...The result is still awaited...We demand cancellation of the CBT 2 exam and release of the exam result,” a protester told ANI. 

4. The police released several rounds of tear gas to control the protestors. "Situation under control now. They have set it (coach/train) on fire, we have identified some of them," said Gaya Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Aditya Kumar.

5. The ECR CPRO said demonstrations were also witnessed at Taregana, on the outskirts of Patna, and at Jehanabad. However, protesters were pacified here without much trouble, PTI reported. 

6. The Railway Ministry on Wednesday decided to suspend Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) and Level 1 exams in the wake of protests across the country.

7. The Railways has also formed a committee to hear the grievances of those who have passed the exams under different railway recruitment boards (RRBs) and those who have failed.

8. Candidates are opposing the Railways' decision to hold the RRB-NTPC exam in two stages, claiming the second stage for final selection amount to "cheating" those who appeared and cleared the first stage of the RRB-NTPC for computer-based test (CBT). 

9. On Tuesday, the railways had warned its job aspirants that those found involved in vandalism and unlawful activities while protesting will be barred from ever getting hired in the railways.

10. Hundreds of protestors squatted on rail tracks at several places on Tuesday, hampering train movement in Bihar. Several trains had to be cancelled or run on alternative routes in view of the protests.

(With agency inputs)