Railway exam row: Protest across Bihar, train services hit

Soon after the cancellation of RRB-NTPC exam, students began protesting against the Railway Recruitment Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC) exam 2021 which spread to other parts of Bihar on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, a train was set on fire and demonstrations were staged at a couple of stations, marking the third day of unrest in Bihar against alleged anomalies in the tests conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board for the NTPC category.

* Candidates were opposing the Railways decision to hold the exams in two stages, claiming the second stage for final selection tantamounted to "cheating" those who appeared and cleared the first stage of the RRB-NTPC for computer-based test (CBT) which was released on January 15.

* Protestors squatted on rail tracks at several places on Tuesday, hampering train movement in the state.

* The government has set up a committee to tackle the grievances of the protesting students. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has appealed to the students to not break the law and assured them that their grievances would be seriously addressed.

* The protesters claimed that there was only one examination mentioned in the RRB notification issued in 2019. They accused the officials of playing with the future of the students.

* "I request students not to take the law into their hands. We will seriously address the grievances and concerns raised by them," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said and added that all Railway Recruitment Board chairmen have been asked to listen to the concerns of students, compile them and send them to the committee. "An email address has been set up for this purpose. The committee will go to different parts of the country and listen to grievances," he said. 

* A train was set on fire and demonstrations were staged at a couple of stations on Wednesday, marking the third day of unrest in Bihar against alleged anomalies in the tests conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board for the NTPC category.

* Around 1.25 crore candidates had applied for the exams that had advertised over 35,000 posts from level 2 to level 6, with starting pay ranging from ₹ 19,900 to ₹ 35,400 per month. Around 60 lakh people appeared for the exam. Students have opposed a decision by the Railways to hold the exam in two stages, claiming that the second stage is unfair to those who have cleared the first stage, results for which were released on January 15.  

* Following the objections, the Railways have decided to halt the tests, according to a spokespersson. It has also established a high-level committee to investigate the issues of individuals who have passed and those who have failed various railway recruiting boards (RRBs). "The Railway has formed a High Power Committee to investigate candidates' concerns over the NTPC CBT-1 result. Candidates may submit their Grievances to Committee till 16th February 2022," the railway ministry tweeted.   "Chief Ministers are working sensitively and we are in touch with them. We urge candidates to put forth grievances formally," the Railways Minister said today.

* "The Railways is requesting people to stay calm and place their grievances before the high-powered committee that has been set up to look into their concerns."