Railway job Aspirants Protest in Kolkata, Demand 3 Lakh Vacancies to be Filled

Kolkata: A joint forum of West Bengal Job-seekers took to the streets to demand recruitment for railway vacancies. They protested in front of the Kolkata office of the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) on Friday, demanding quick recruitment.

The job seekers claim there are more than three lakh vacant posts in the Indian Railways at present. They have demanded recruitment for various vacancies, including Assistant Loco Pilot, Technician, Junior Engineer, NTPC Group C and D.

A delegation of three protesters on behalf of the forum met the railway recruitment officials and submitted a memorandum stating their demands. After the meeting, the delegation told reporters that the railway officials told them to keep preparing, as the exam date will be announced soon. However, the railway officials also said that nothing can be done about the demand given by the job seekers to relax the upper age limit. However, they have apparently assured they will discuss the matter with higher officials.

CITU leader Indrajit Ghosh said on behalf of the forum, "According to the calculation of December 2022, the number of vacant posts in the railways at the moment is 3 lakh 12 thousand. But after taking oath as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi said that two crore unemployed people will get jobs every year. He said that the jobs will be announced from the Rozgar Mela. But nothing happened. There will be a larger movement if the recruitment of vacant posts is not started.”

Ghosh further said, “Group C, Group D, Assistant Loco Pilot, Railway Signal Operator - various departments are vacant. One of the reasons behind the Coromandel rail accident was the huge workload on a small number of workers. The tradition of Indian Railways is also being destroyed due to such huge vacancies. The Indian railway sector is the largest employer in Asia. There are now lakhs of vacancies. The job seekers are protesting here to demand recruitment."

The forum claims that no railway recruitment notification has been published since 2019. Hence, they demanded an age limit relaxation. The demands were sent in advance through email to the members of the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee has two members from West Bengal. 

Ghosh alleged that the Railway Department is also giving conventional answers regarding recruitment.

Apart from Ghosh from the joint platform, state DYFI leader Kaltan Dasgupta, Vikas Jha, Shikha Basak, Moushumi Das, Deepak Singh and others were present at Friday’s programme. Kaltan Dasgupta told the People's Reporter, “Railway officials have advised job aspirants to continue their studies. They said that it is not possible for the recruitment board to say when the examination will be held. It is decided by the officials above. And since there was no examination for three years, we applied for age relaxation. They said they can't do that either."

On the other hand, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of Amrit Bharat Station Project-3 through virtual medium next Sunday. As many as 508 stations in the country will be reconstructed or renovated under Amrit Bharat Station Project-3. Out of which 28 stations are under Eastern Railway.