GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1610

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.02.2021

STATUS OF PETITIONS

1610. SHRI NATARAJAN P.R.:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether any petitions had been filed in the court challenging the notifications issued by the Railway Recruitment Board in 2018 and 2019 in respect of reservations for candidates with disabilities;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the time when these petitions were filed and the present status of the case?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

(a) to (c) Yes, Sir. A total of six petitions have been filed challenging the notifications issued by the Railway Recruitment Board in 2018 and 2019 in respect of reservations for candidates with disabilities. Details of these petitions are as under:

The post Reservation for candidates with disabilities – Petitions have been filed to the Railway Recruitment Board appeared first on CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS.

Another chance to eligible Multiple Disability (MD) ‘Divyangjan’ Level-1 candidates to rectify disability option for Railway jobs

Eligible MD Divyangjan candidates who have filled in their Disability option incorrectly while applying can now represent to the RRC of the Zonal Railway they had opted for with proof. Option to be available from 23rd December 2019 on RRC websites

It may be recalled that Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) had advertised through their centralized CEN 02/18 notification for around 63000 vacant Level-1 posts in early February,2018. Consequent to the notification of the revised Divyangjan Act (RPWD Act, 2016) and orders of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court in a case filed by an organization for one of the Divyangjan categories, a corrigendum was issued on Feb 28, 2018. An extended one month window was provided to enable the Divyangjan categories included in the revised Act, including candidates with identified Multiple Disabilities (MD) to apply for the examination. Around 1.17 crore candidates including around 1.54 lakh Divyangjan appeared at the Computer based written tests. The number of vacancies reserved for Divyangjan  is over 2400, with around equal number reserved for the four Disability categories of Locomotor Disability (LD), Visually Impaired (VI), Hearing Impaired (HI), and Multiple Disability (MD). MD refers to candidates having more than one Disability among the other three Categories of LD, VI and HI.

The vacant posts notified for any Zonal Railway are being filled in as per merit position among those who have opted for that zonal Railway and have secured the minimum qualifying threshold marks and qualified in the Physical Efficiency Tests (PET) conducted by the Railway Recruitment Cells (RRC) of the respective Zonal Railways. Divyangjan candidates have not only been fully exempted from PET, but have been accorded 2 marks relaxation in minimum qualifying cut-offs as well. Their final selection, subject to Document Verification and Medical Examination, is therefore based on their merit position in the Computer Based Tests for their Disability category and Zonal Railway they had opted for.

While over 1025 Divyangjan candidates have already been finally selected and several more candidates’ cases are under verification/medical examination, it has been observed that the MD category has remained mostly unfilled in all Zonal Railways. It is a fact that this Category has been included as per the revised Act fairly recently and the CEN 02/2018 is among the earliest recruitment notifications to incorporate this Disability Category.

In this context, several Divyangjan candidates & groups have represented that due to unfamiliarity with the revised Categorisation and application protocol, they have filled in only Single Disability (either LD or VI or HI) option in the application form, instead of two or more of the Disabilities that they are affected with. Due to this inadvertent exercise of option, such candidates have therefore been considered only against the respective single Disability Category of LD or VI or HI as per option, and not as MD to which they actually belong.

The above representation has been considered in the Ministry of Railways, and it has been decided to allow a window period for such candidates to represent for considering them against MD Category vacancies. Accordingly, those eligible Divyangjan MD candidates who actually have more than one benchmark Disability among the three single Disability categories of LD, VI and HI but have inadvertently opted for only a single Disability Category in their application forms for the Level-1 CEN 02/2018 recruitment notification will now get another chance to be considered against unfilled MD Category vacancies of the Railway zone they had originally opted for. Such eligible Divyangjan MD candidates, who have a score of 38 or more in the written Computer Based Test (28 or more for Divyangjan of SC/ST/non-creamy layer OBC) will be able to represent to the RRC of the Zonal Railway they had opted for with proof of their belonging to MD Category. The notification and format for representation is scheduled to be available in the relevant RRC/RRB websites from 23rd December 2019 for around a fortnight. From amongst the eligible applications so received and scrutinised, shortlisting for further processing for filling up the unfilled MD vacancies will be done as per merit position. Indicative notice has already been published in newspapers for advance information of the eligible MD Category Divyangjan in this regard.

Indian Railways continues to remain committed to the cause of empowerment of Divyangjan and in following all applicable laws and provisions in this regard in letter and spirit. The dispensation being adopted above is an illustrative example in this regard.

PIB

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•  Total Vacancies reserved for Disabled candidates (Divyangjan) were revised upwards by Railways from 729 to over 2400 with around 600 for each of the 4 Disability categories of LD, VI, HI and MD.
•     There were total about 1.87 crore applicants. Written Exams (Computer-based 100% objective in 15 languages)
•     Around 1,55,000 (1.55 lakhs) Disabled candidates took the exam for the around 2400 posts notified as reserved for such candidates.
•     Around 34000 Disabled candidates scored above this threshold qualifying limit

Ministry of Railways

Clarification by Ministry of Railways regarding Recruitment of Divyangjans on Gr-D/Level-1 Vacancies

There is recent and continuing sit-in by Disabled persons (‘Divyangjan’) at Mandi House in Delhi regarding some issues for Level-1 jobs in the Railways for Divyangajans. At the outset, on this sensitive matter, it is categorically stated that insofar as Divyangjan candidates are concerned, Railways have ensured that notification of the required number of reserved vacancies, conduct of the entire recruitment exercise, and filled up of posts meant for Divyangjan have been not only transparent and fair, but also in accordance with statutory provisions and the law of the land in this regard. Nevertheless, necessary details with regard to the whole issue are brought out below.

Background

·        A centralized notification (CEN 02/18) for around 63000 Level-1 vacancies for all Railway zones across Indian Railways was issued in Feb’18 by Railway Recruitment Boards.

·        This notification had initially 729 vacancies for Disabled in 3 Categories- Orthopaedic, Visual, and Hearing Disabled. The major chunk of vacancies was notified for Orthopaedically Disabled, based on job & suitability requirements of the posts advertised. Candidates could apply to be considered for vacancies of one of the 16 Railway zones of their choice.

·        An organization of visually impaired persons filed a PIL in Hon’ble Delhi High Court in Feb’18. In the meantime, the revised Disabilities Act, 2016 had been enacted by then and notified by the Department of Personnel & Training of the Govt. of India in Jan 2018. In terms of this Act, the total vacancies to be reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) was revised upwards to 4%, with prescribed bifurcation among Disability categories.

·         In compliance of Court hearings and directions in the case, the provisions of this revised Disabilities Act was made applicable to the CEN 02/2018 recruitment exercise as well. This meant that 4% vacancies had to be kept reserved for Disabled candidates. As specified in the Act, this was to be distributed equally as 1% each among 4 Disability Categories – Locomotor Disability (LD) that was earlier called Orthopaedic; Visually Impaired (VI), Hearing Impaired (HI), and an added Disability category of Multi-Disability (MD). MD would include candidates suffering from more than one Disability among the other three, as defined by medical benchmark standards.

·        Accordingly, total Vacancies reserved for Disabled candidates (Divyangjan) were revised upwards by Railways from 729 to over 2400 with around 600 for each of the 4 Disability categories of LD, VI, HI and MD.

·        In the meantime, a window of one month was provided on February 28, 2018 for candidates to apply because of the applicability of the revised Disability Act.

·        There were total about 1.87 crore applicants. Written Exams (Computer-based 100% objective in 15 languages) were conducted in the latter part of 2018. Around 1,55,000 (1.55 lakhs) Disabled candidates took the exam for the around 2400 posts notified as reserved for such candidates. All prescribed facilities such as scribes, extra time, careful seating arrangements etc. were arranged for Disabled candidates. Minimum qualifying/cut-off threshold scores that were 40 for General candidates and 30 for SC/ST/OBC candidates were relaxed by 2 marks to 38 and 28 respectively for Disabled candidates. Around 34000 Disabled candidates scored above this threshold qualifying limit. Based on number of vacancies and their merit position in the particular Disability category in that Railway, commensurate number of qualified candidates were called for Document Verification and medical examination, prior to being offered appointment. Against those who are either absent or have not cleared verification of Documents and meeting the medical standards as per their Disability, candidates next in line as per merit have been called. So far, around 1025 Disabled candidates have already been selected for appointment. As authenticity of certificates and determining of medical status is taking additional time in the case of some Disabled candidates, this number of 1025 will go up in the coming weeks.

Sequence of Events

·        Last month, some protesters under a banner “Toshiyas” did a sit-in in Delhi for 3 days from Oct 23-Oct 25, 2019. Apart from generic grievances regarding Government policy of reservation for Disabled categories and how this should be implemented in recruitments, they had also alleged irregularities in individual cases due to which they were aggrieved that meritorious Disabled candidates had not been selected.

·        A detailed three-way discussion with the protesters, senior Railway officers and senior officers of the Ministry of Social Justice was chaired by Secretary, M/o Social Justice on 24 Oct 2019.

·        On 25th October, the Court of Chief Commissioners of Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) heard the Petitioners and took their submissions on record. The Railways’ position and point-wise clarifications were also taken on record, following which the Court passed orders the same evening. These orders directed display of cut-offs for each Disability category not only on the respective Railway Recruitment cell websites of each Railway zone, but also on the Railway Board website. Directions to Railway zones to expedite the process, ensuring that no non-Divyangjan was appointed to a Divyangjan-reserved post, and careful consideration of any list of individual candidates’ grievances to be furnished by the Petitioner were also given.

·        The directions above were complied by Railways and compliance report also sent to the Court (CCPD), with a copy to the Petitioner.

·        After a specific request by Railway Board’s office, the Petitioner in the case at CCPD furnished a list of around 184 candidates across 10 Railway zones, who, it was claimed, had not been selected even though they had qualified as per merit.

·        The list was carefully examined by Railways Administration and it was found that around 21 of the 184 had not secured the relaxed threshold cut-off/ qualifying score of 38 (for UR) or 28 (for SC/ST/OBC). The around 163 others had crossed this minimum threshold but were far short in terms of merit score when compared to the last such candidate selected  in that Disability category by that Railway zone. This detailed position in respect of the entire list submitted by him was sent to the Petitioner.

·        On Ministry of Railways’ own initiative, a further detailed follow-up meeting with the main Petitioner and several of the original protesters was again held at Patna on 23rd November 2019 with senior officers of the Board to collect any residual grievances.

·        Again some protesters under a fresh banner have suddenly gone on a sit-in since 26th November. These protesters were part of the earlier group, but have now reportedly splintered/broken away and have sat on this dharna.

·        Two more attempts at resolving the matter through discussions with senior Railway officers have failed first at Rail Bhawan on 26th Nov evening, and the second at the protest site on 27th evening, as the protesters are sticking to their demand of being given jobs in Railways irrespective of their merit position, Disability category, and vacancies notified in the Railway zone they have chosen.

Railways’ position on issues raised by the Protesters

The demands pertaining to Level-1 recruitment cover 5 broad aspects as under:

Any large competitive examination has to be conducted as per merit and as per statutory provisions. In a situation where around 2400 vacancies are reserved for Divyangjan and there are 1.55 lakh Divyangjan applicants, it is clear that the end of the recruitment exercise will unfortunately result in around 1.53 lakh Divyangjan not making the cut. As long as those selected are strictly as per merit for that Disability category and that Railway zone, the process should be accepted by all stakeholders. The point about whether the present 1% distribution of vacant posts across the 4 Disability categories is equitable considering the relative populations/number of applicants in each Disability is a larger policy issue involving other Ministries of the Government of India and other expert bodies. Railways cannot act unilaterally in the matter. As things stand, the Railways are bound to follow statutory provisions as notified. Any specific irregularities/grievances, if pointed out, will be promptly examined and corrective action, if necessitated, taken. This has been repeatedly emphasized to the protesters. The Railways continues to remain committed to the cause of Divyangjans.

It is also relevant to mention that another group of Disabled persons under a different NGO has already gone to Hon’ble Delhi High Court raising similar issues as these protesters. Matter is sub judice there. Indian Railways will respect the judicial verdict in the matter, as and when it is delivered.

Source: PIB

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Ministry of Railways

Ministry of Railways announces recruitment for 13487 posts of Junior Engineers (JE), Junior Engineers (IT), Depot Material Superintendent (DMS) & Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant (CMA)

The last date for applications for this 2 stage recruitment (1st stage- CBT, 2nd stage – Document Verification) is 31st January, 2019

04 JAN 2019

Ministry of Railways has announced recruitment for 13487 posts of Junior Engineers (JE), Junior Engineers (Information Technology), Depot Material Superintendent (DMS) & Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant (CMA). The scale of the posts is Rs 35,400- 112400/- (Level 6) as per 7th CPC. The notification for the posts has been issued on the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) website. The last date for applications for this 2 stage recruitment (1st stage- CBT, 2nd stage- Document Verification) is 31st January, 2019.

It is also to be noted that the notified 13487 vacancies are spread over different Railway Zones and States and candidates from all over India may apply against these pan India vacancies.

The qualifications to apply for Junior Engineers posts are three years Diploma in specified Disciplines or combination of various streams of the basic Engineering disciplines from a recognised Institution. For Depot Store Superintendent, three years Diploma in Engineering in any discipline from a recognized University/Institute. Degree in Engineering disciplines will also be acceptable in lieu of Diploma in Engineering. For Junior Engineer (IT), PGDCA/B.Sc. (Computer Science)/B.Tech (Computer Science)/DOEACC ‘B’ level course of three years duration or equivalent from recognised University/Institute is required qualifications for application. For Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant, Bachelor’s Degree in Science with Physics & Chemistry with minimum of 45% marks from a recognised University/Institute is required qualification for application. The medical standards for various posts are A3, B1, B2, C1. Age criteria is 18-33 years (as on 01.01.2019)

Candidates are advised to refer to the following link for the updated information: indianrailways.gov.in

PIB

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Presently, there are 21 Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) across the country for catering to the requirements of various categories of Group ‘C’ posts of Zonal Railway(s) / Production Unit(s).

During the last three years, a total of 62,773 candidates have been empanelled for various categories of Group ‘C’ posts by all the 21 RRBs. Year-wise break-up is as under-

Indian Railways is an organization having pan India character. The RRBs have been established based on territorial jurisdiction of the Indian railways and not on the basis of State(s), Zone(s) / Region(s). Candidates are free to apply to any RRB throughout the country in response to the advertisements; RRBs do not make any distinction on the basis of State(s), Region(s) / Area(s) / Locality, Caste(s), Gender(s) or Creed(s). No preference / relaxation is given to candidates belonging to any region.

This Press Release is based on the information given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 02.08.2017 (Wednesday).

PIB

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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Railways

28-August, 2015 15:38 IST

Taking a new leap forward, Railway Recruitment Board are organizing Pan-India On-line (Computer Based) recruitment examination, for the first time, for 3273 vacancies of Senior Section Engineers and Junior Engineers from 26th August to 4th September, 2015. Applications for this examination were also called Online. Around 18 lakh candidates have applied for this mega On-line (Computer Based) examination. Sharp increase in vacancy to candidate ratio indicates wide popularity and acceptance of On-line mode.

This new format is expected to enhance objectivity, transparency and credibility of Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exams significantly. This examination is being conducted in 242 cities all over India including far off locations in North East and J&K.

The on-line system is very user friendly and fool-proof, taking care of all the checks and balances. The system allows the candidate to navigate from one question to another with utmost ease and can also be read/attempted in the respective regional languages.

PIB

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

RRCB NO. 01/2014

No. 2013/E(RRB)/25/28

New Delhi, Dated. 17.01.2014

The Chairpersons,
All Railway Recruitment Boards.

Sub.:  Streamlining of working of RRBs-Holding of common RRB examination for the ALP & Technician.

Ref.: Board’s letter No.2009/E(RRB)/25/20 dated 28.10.2009 (RRCB No. 04/2009).

Vide Board’s letter under reference comprehensive orders on the streamlining of functioning of RRB were issued. This process has been under constant review and scrutiny based on the experiences of examination held against CEN of 2010, 2011 & 2012 so that the RRBs exams can be held in more efficient and cost effective manner. It has been noticed that minimum educational qualification for the two categories of ALPs & Technicians being common ( i.e. ITI in the relevant trade) , most of the candidates applying for these categories are common. Still, conventionally two different notifications and exams have been issued/organized for these two categories separately. This results in holding two different exams for same set of candidates on two different occasions and also if the candidate is selected in both the exams, he joins against one category of posts leaving the other vacant. This is also one of the reasons for short Panels.

2.  To streamline and standardize selection procedure and also to address the problem of short panels in critical safety categories like ALP & Technicians, Board has decided for holding a common RRB examination for the ALP and Technicians categories from 2014 onwards, For this, the following changes in the existing recruitment system are being introduced with immediate effect.

(i) Nodal RRB/Chennai will issue a common Centralized Employment Notification on behalf of all the participating RRBs for these two categories of post viz. ALPs & Technicians.

(ii) For the selection of ALP & Technician, a common written examination will be conducted on the same day simultaneously by all the participating RRBs in one or more sessions depending upon the numbers of candidates applying for the examination on that RRB.

3.  A common structure of question papers for the written examination of the categories of ALP & Technicians should be followed/adopted as detailed under, which is in supersession of Boards letter No. 2009/E(RRB)/25/20 pt. dated 05.01.2011(RRCB No. 1/2011) for these two categories :

4.  As per the existing instructions, candidates to the tune of five times the vacancies are short listed for appearing in the Psycho- Tests for ALPs. It has now been decided that the number of candidates to be short-listed for Psycho Test may be increased to eight times of the vacancies subject to securing minimum qualifying marks prescribed for respective community in the written examination on the same lines as ASMs communicated vide Board’s letter No. 2013/E(RRB)/25/23 dated 08.10.2013 (RRCB No. 1/2013)

5.  With a view to avoid shortfall while preparing the panels, if any, the zone of stand by/waiting list is also being increased from present 30% to 50% for the above mentioned categories combined together

6.  It should be clearly brought out in all the communications to the candidates that a candidate once empanelled for any of the posts depending on his choice/merit position will not be considered for alternative appointment later if he is found medically unfit. Therefore, the candidates, in their own interest, should satisfy themselves about fulfilling the prescribed medical standards before opting for various posts.

These modifications are issued with the approval of Board and may be implemented from CEN01/2014 onwards.

Joint Director, Estt. (RRB)
Railway Board

Source: http://www.airfindia.com/Orders%202014/RRCB%201_2014_17.01.2014.pdf

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The Government has decided to set up a Committee to make in-depth analysis of the reasons for backlog in filling up of reserved vacancies. A 20-member committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will suggest measures to enhance the employability of reserved category candidates. The Committee members are from various Central Government Ministries including Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Ministry of Railways, UPSC, SSC, Railway Recruitment Board etc.

The Committee will submit its report within a period of three months from the date of its constitution.

The Government had launched a Special Recruitment Drive (SRD) to fill up the backlog reserved vacancies of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in November, 2008. Progress of the drive was reviewed in July, 2011 and it was decided to re-launch the drive so as to fill up the remaining identified backlog vacancies by 31st March, 2012. The progress of Special Recruitment Drive was reviewed by the Government in May 2013. It was noted out of a total of 64,175 backlog vacancies (DR quota and Promotion quota) which could be filled up, 48,034 vacancies were filled up, indicating overall success rate of the Drive at about 75%.

The analysis of data and consultation with various Ministries indicated that lack of finishing skills or interview skills, less availability of professionally qualified persons, less identification of posts for Persons with Disabilities, dearth of professionally qualified persons especially in Hearing impaired Category of disability etc. are some of the reasons for less employability of SCs, STs, OBCs and PWDs in Government Sector.

*******

RNM/DS/HKJ/BK/COMMITTEE-BACKLOG/21.8.13
(Release ID :98467)
Source: PIB

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