Often mired in controversy earlier, the railways will be holding the first combined all-India exam for recruitment to nearly 40,000 posts on Sunday. Nearly 70 lakh candidates across the country are expected to appear for the exam.
The examination would often be a subject of controversy as it would be held in various regional centres and on different dates earlier. Mumbai, for instance, saw the targeting of Bihari youth by supporters of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) when they had gone to the metro to sit for the Mumbai Railway Recruitment Board examination. They were targeted by the MNS for allegedly taking away jobs which it felt should have gone to Marathi youth.
Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, newly-appointed Railway Board chairman, Vivek Sahai said that the first combined examination is being held on Sunday, June 6 and some other exams are slated to be held on June 13 and also in July. Importantly, candidates taking the June 6 exam will be able to write it in either English, Hindi or Urdu. They will be vying to fill up posts in 24 categories.
Mr Sahai during his first interaction with the media after taking over as the Railway Board chief when asked about the summer specials run by the railways said that both the cleanliness and punctuality of these trains is an issue.
He assured that “as chairman, I’ll improve both the cleanliness and punctuality of the summer specials”. On the issue of freight traffic, Mr Sahai said that the railways has put in place the private freight terminal operators policy in place which will be looking towards the private sector to develop freight terminals. He noted that with the railways goods sheds choked, the railways is looking at land owned by private parties that can be used for handling freight traffic.