Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/railways-warns-protesters-conduct-unbecoming-may-lead-to-jobs-ban-7741785/
Publisher: Indian Express
A day after aspirants to Railway jobs blocked the arterial Delhi-Kolkata line for several hours, delaying important trains, the Indian Railways issued a strong statement against their “misguided” actions and threatened a lifetime ban on employment with the national transporter.
Thousands of people protested in Bihar on Monday against the alleged “inaccurate results” of the Railway Recruitment Board’s (RRB) Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) competitive exam, 2021.
The protests continued on Tuesday, with students clashing with police at various places in Patna and elsewhere in the state. Attempts were made to block trains on Tuesday as well, and a coach of a stationary train was set on fire in Ara, the headquarters of Bhojpur district about 50 km west of Patna.
On Tuesday, the Railways issued a general notice saying that by destroying railway property and disrupting railway services, the aspirants for railway jobs had displayed conduct that was unbecoming of a railway employee.
“Such misguided activities are highest level of indiscipline rendering such aspirants unsuitable for Railway/Government job. Videos of such activities will be examined…and candidates/aspirants found indulged in unlawful activities will be liable for police action as well as lifetime debarment from obtaining Railway job,” the notice, issued on behalf of the RRBs, said.
The Railways brass have determined that some coaching centres and online tutorial services have been spreading misinformation among candidates, leading to the ongoing controversy.
Officials have reached out to some popular coaching centres, which are also influential on social media, and asked them to disseminate the correct picture on the rules and regulations that govern the screening process of the recruitment drive in NTPC, for which around 1.25 crore candidates had appeared, and whose results were declared earlier this month.
The Railways are seeking to fill over 35,000 vacancies for jobs from level 2 to level 6, with starting pay ranging from Rs 19,900 to Rs 35,400 per month.
The minimum qualifications for the jobs differ, and the protesters claim that the recruitment process allows candidates with higher qualifications to unfairly compete for jobs that are meant for those with lower qualifications.
As violent protests continued for the second day, students threw stones at police in the Bhikhna Pahadi, Kadamkuan, and Saidpur areas of Patna. But no major injuries were reported from either Patna or Ara, where the train compartment was torched.
Students also protested the RRB-NTPC results in Nawada, Fatuha, Biharsharif, Chhapra, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, and Buxar. There were attempts to disrupt rail and road traffic. Police carried out mild lathicharges in Fatuha and Nawada. Over a dozen people suffered minor injuries in these places.
The protesters are demanding republication of the results of the first stage (CBT-1) of the RRB-NTPC exam, and abolition of the second stage (CBT-2) for Group D aspirants.
Roshan Kumar, an aspirant from Muzaffarpur, said: “Until the Railway authorities concede our demands, the protests will continue in some form or the other.”
East Central Railway chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar said at least a dozen trains had to be diverted between Buxar and Patna on Tuesday.
Sources at the Bihar Police headquarters said additional police deployment would continue at major railway stations for the next few days in view of anticipated protests by students.”
