Railways warns protesters: Conduct unbecoming, may lead to jobs ban

The protests continued on Tuesday, with students clashing with police at various places in Patna and elsewhere in the state. Attempts were made to block trains on Tuesday as well, and a coach of a stationary train was set on fire in Ara, the headquarters of Bhojpur district about 50 km west of Patna.

रेलवे भर्ती परीक्षा में अनियमितता का आरोप, बिहार में छात्रों का विरोध-प्रदर्शन, प्रदर्शनकारियों पर पुलिस कार्रवाई…

वीडियो: विष्णु नारायण, बीबीसी के लिए
एडिटिंग: शाहनवाज़ अहमद pic.twitter.com/4vLefNU7KB

— BBC News Hindi (@BBCHindi) January 25, 2022

On Tuesday, the Railways issued a general notice saying that by destroying railway property and disrupting railway services, the aspirants for railway jobs had displayed conduct that was unbecoming of a railway employee.

“Such misguided activities are highest level of indiscipline rendering such aspirants unsuitable for Railway/Government job. Videos of such activities will be examined…and candidates/aspirants found indulged in unlawful activities will be liable for police action as well as lifetime debarment from obtaining Railway job,” the notice, issued on behalf of the RRBs, said.

The Railways brass have determined that some coaching centres and online tutorial services have been spreading misinformation among candidates, leading to the ongoing controversy.

Officials have reached out to some popular coaching centres, which are also influential on social media, and asked them to disseminate the correct picture on the rules and regulations that govern the screening process of the recruitment drive in NTPC, for which around 1.25 crore candidates had appeared, and whose results were declared earlier this month.

The Railways are seeking to fill over 35,000 vacancies for jobs from level 2 to level 6, with starting pay ranging from Rs 19,900 to Rs 35,400 per month.

The minimum qualifications for the jobs differ, and the protesters claim that the recruitment process allows candidates with higher qualifications to unfairly compete for jobs that are meant for those with lower qualifications.

पटना ,बिहार के बाद अब इलाहाबाद में हॉस्टल और लॉज में घुसकर निर्दोष छात्रों पर यूपी सरकार ने बर्बर लाठीचार्ज कराया। देश भर में एनटीपीसी – आरआरबी के छात्र लगातार अपनी मांग उठा रहे हैं। आगामी चुनाव में युवा अपना जवाब देंगे। #JusticeForStudents #RRB_NTPCRecruitment_SCAM pic.twitter.com/GnzgdFIbse

— Raj Abhishek Singh (@irajabhishek) January 25, 2022

As violent protests continued for the second day, students threw stones at police in the Bhikhna Pahadi, Kadamkuan, and Saidpur areas of Patna. But no major injuries were reported from either Patna or Ara, where the train compartment was torched.

Students also protested the RRB-NTPC results in Nawada, Fatuha, Biharsharif, Chhapra, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, and Buxar. There were attempts to disrupt rail and road traffic. Police carried out mild lathicharges in Fatuha and Nawada. Over a dozen people suffered minor injuries in these places.

The protesters are demanding republication of the results of the first stage (CBT-1) of the RRB-NTPC exam, and abolition of the second stage (CBT-2) for Group D aspirants.

Roshan Kumar, an aspirant from Muzaffarpur, said: “Until the Railway authorities concede our demands, the protests will continue in some form or the other.”

East Central Railway chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar said at least a dozen trains had to be diverted between Buxar and Patna on Tuesday.

Sources at the Bihar Police headquarters said additional police deployment would continue at major railway stations for the next few days in view of anticipated protests by students.”