3 min readNew Delhi IJan 28, 2022 11:52 AM IST
First published on: Jan 26, 2022 at 10:32 AM IST
The Railways has decided to suspend its NTPC and Level 1 tests after violent protests by the aspirants who appeared in the exam. The exam was conducted from December 28, 2020, to July 31, 2021 and the result was announced on January 15, 2022. Over seven lakh candidates were shortlisted for 35,281 posts for the Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) Level 2 exam.
However, immediately after the declaration of the result, thousands of aspirants protested in Bihar against the alleged “inaccurate results” of the Railway Recruitment Board’s (RRB) NTPC 2019 exam.
Why are RRB NTPC candidates protesting?
Some protesters claim that the recruitment process allows candidates with higher qualifications to unfairly compete for jobs that are meant for those with lower qualifications. While many argued that while one candidate could qualify from one region, the result list shows that one candidates has been declared qualified from two to three different regions.
The protests turned violent on Tuesday when attempts were made to block trains and a coach of a stationary train was set on fire in Ara, the headquarters of Bhojpur district. Many protestors blocked the arterial Delhi-Kolkata line for several hours, delaying important trains.
Several students took to Twitter to protest against the declared result with hashtags #RRBNTPC_1student_1result #rrbntpc_reviseresult being trending from the last few days.
Why is RRB NTPC exam put on hold?
Citing the emerging violence of protestors, 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.
Later, the Railways decided to suspend its NTPC and Level 1 tests after violent protests by job aspirants over the selection process of its recruitment exams.
What’s next?
Railways has also formed a committee that will examine the grievances of those who have passed the exams under different railway recruitment boards (RRBs) and those who have failed. After listening to both parties, the committee will submit a report to the railway ministry.
Meanwhile, The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) had released the exam dates for Computer-based Test (CBT-2) 2019. The second stage CBT was scheduled to be held in a single phase from February 15 to February 19, 2022. However, with a exam being under scrutiny, it is expected that the CBT-2 might get postponed.
The committee was scheduled to finalise its report on March 4. (PTI Photo) 
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