Indian Railways have postponed the Railway Recruitment Board or RRB NTPC examination following the ruckus created by students in Bihar protesting against alleged irregularities in Non-Technical Popular Categories examinations.
A committee led by Principal Executive Director (Industrial Relations) of the Railway Ministry, Deepak Peter Gabriel was formed on Wednesday to look into the concerns of the students who are complaining against alleged irregularities in RRB exams.
Several videos showing protesters in different parts of Bihar disrupting train operations and destroying railway property have gone viral. “Almost over 1,000 students have been protesting and we are on the site, we still need to monitor the situation,” a member from the police told The Daily Guardian.
The matter got sensitive when some aspirants set on fire a train in Gaya, Bihar. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav urged the students not to take the law into their hands and assured them of addressing their concerns. “I request students not to take the law into their hands. We will seriously address the grievances and concerns raised by them. Whatever concern students want to share, they can share with the committee set up by Railway Ministry and we will take note of it but do not take law and order in your hands,” he said.
Indian Railways have also issued a warning against the protesting aspirants with a lifetime disqualification from the recruitment process, which is currently under review by the ministry.
The second round of exams, RRB NTPC CBT-2, scheduled to be conducted on 19 February, has been postponed for now. The committee has plans to review the results of RRB NTPC CBT-1 without impacting the shortlisted candidates. The Railway Ministry has also released an email ID to address the concerns of the students. The aspirants have three weeks until 12 February to report their concerns, and after that, the committee will examine them and make recommendations by March 4.
One of the protesters said, “CBT 2 exam date was not notified; there was no update
on railway exam which was notified in 2019. The result is still awaited. We demand cancellation of CBT 2 exam and release of exam result.”
However, currently, the situation is stable and as per local sources, some of the miscreants have been arrested. Gaya SSP Aditya Kumar said: “We want to tell the students that they should not get influenced by anyone and not damage the government’s property. A committee has been formed by the government to look into the matter.”
The RRB NTPC CBT 1 results were issued on 14 January for all five levels, and shortlisted candidates were to participate for CBT 2, which was to be held separately for each level. However, the NTPC exam has been postponed for the time being and further details are still awaited.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS