As many as 2,94,115 vacancies have been filled up in the last five years and up to September 30, 2023, in the Indian Railways, said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. More than 90% of the candidates recruited are in safety and operational categories, he added.
Filling up of vacancies is a continuous process for Indian Railways, considering its size, spatial distribution, and criticality of operation. Adequate and suitable manpower is provided to cater to the regular operations, changes in technology, mechanizations, and innovative practices. The vacancies are filled primarily by the placement of indents by railways with recruitment agencies as per operational and technological requirements.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, informed that two major competitive Computer Based Tests (CBT) involving more than 2.37 crore candidates have been conducted recently for filling up of 1.39 lakh vacancies for non-gazetted posts. 1st Stage CBT for CEN 01/2019 (NTPC) for more than 1.26 crore candidates was conducted in seven phases from December 28, 2020, to July 31, 2021, in 133 shifts in 68 days across 211 cities and 726 centers in 15 languages. Similarly, CBT for CEN RRC 01/2019 (Level 1) was conducted for more than 1.11 crore candidates in 5 phases from 17.08.2022 to 11.10.2022 in 99 shifts in 33 days across 191 cities and 551 centers in 15 languages.
Periodical reviews of running staff are done through crew review exercises by Zonal Railways as per delegations of power. This crew review is done on an annual or half-yearly basis by Zonal Railways, which means virtually every year crew review is done, Vaishnaw added.
During the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24 (up to September 23), 4,89,696 candidates have been recruited by the Railway Recruitment agencies against various group C posts (including level-1 and security-related posts), stated a release by the Railway Ministry.
