Railways assure protesting PwBD candidates about the divyangjan quota

The Indian Railways on Monday clarified it's stand. It has stated that it is committed to recruit 'Divyangjan' against the posts prescribed for them as per the quota.

'The qualified PwBD candidates would be appointed as per their merit'

“The qualified PwBD( Persons With Benchmark Disability ) candidates would be appointed as per their merit/turn-in their respective Railway zones as per vacancies notified for the different classes of Divyangjan. Any unfilled vacancies would not be filled by other non-PwBD candidates,” the railway ministry in a statement. 

READ | Piyush Goyal reveals Indian Railways is casualty-free since April 1

The protests against the Railway Recruitment board began after the board in 2018 issued a centralized recruitment notification for around 63,000 posts on different Railways. The notification also included PwBD categories. Based on the notifications of the revised PwBD Act that mandated 4 per cent reservation for PwBD categories, including a newly introduced multi disability category, an additional window was notified for candidates to apply. A 1 per cent distribution of vacancies for each of the four PwBD categories for the recruitment exercise was made increasing the total number of vacancies reserved for PwBD to around 2,500.

READ | Indian Railways to run 200 special trains ahead of the festive season

Candidates notice discrepancies

The Protests began after candidates perceived irregularities in the filling up of posts reserved for PwBD in the recent Level-1 recruitment exercise of the Railways. Following the protests, the Railways assured the candidates and said no vacancy for the 'Divyangan' will be filed by any other categories. 

"Candidates can give their grievances and it will be examined carefully and expeditiously. The recruitment process is still underway and more posts for persons with benchmark disabilities (PwBD) would come up for an appointment in the coming weeks. Under no circumstances will any vacancy for divyangjan be filled by any other categories," the Railways said in a statement.

According to reports, a meeting was also held with representatives of the protesters to understand their problems and assure the protesters that all grievances would be examined and those genuine addressed in a time-bound manner the ministry said. The ministry also said the recruitment process was still underway and more PwBD candidates, would come up for an appointment in the coming weeks.  

READ | Railways to convert 200 saloons into 10 IRCTC-run tourist trains

(With ANI inputs)