RRB NTPC Exam Protest: Why Thousands Of Students Are Angry And Protesting On Railway Tracks

Thousands of students, who appeared for the railway recruitment have been protesting for the past three days. The protests involve the Railway Recruitment Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC) exam 2021.

On Wednesday, a passenger train was set on fire and another was attacked with stones in Bihar in violent protests by students against a railway jobs exam on a day the country celebrated Republic Day. But, why?

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Why are the students protesting?

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.

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. The RRB-NTPC exams were held in seven phases between December 28, 2020 and July 31, 2021 to fill thousands of vacancies.

The protesters claimed that there was only one examination mentioned in the RRB notification issued in 2019 and have alleged cheating by the RRB.

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Is it a key issue?

Protesters say the system of one screening test across five pay grades is designed to favour those with higher qualification. For instance, a graduate cannot be stopped from appearing for an exam where the minimum qualification is 10+2. Candidates have also criticised the marking system.

What is the Ministry of Railways saying?

The Ministry of railways issued a clarification as candidates raised concerns over the process of shortlisting candidates for the Level 2 exam under the RRB for Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) - Graduate and Under-graduate. The Railways ministry said that second stage exam was clearly mentioned in the notification.

"While the first stage CBT was a common examination for all the candidates, Para 13.2 of the notification clearly states that in the 2nd stage CBT there would be a separate examination for each group (viz., Levels 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) with differing graded levels of difficulty. Accordingly, all posts falling within the same level shall have a common 2nd stage CBT. Therefore, if a candidate is eligible and has opted for more than one level (as per educational qualification), he/she will have to appear in the corresponding 2nd stage CBT for each level as given in Para 13.6 since the standard (difficulty level) for each group of posts will be different (i.e., of graduate or undergraduate level)," said the ministry.

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If a candidate is eligible and has opted for more than one level (as per educational qualification), he/she will have to appear in the corresponding 2nd stage CBT for each level, it further said.

The government has suspended the exam and 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.

"I request students not to take the law into their hands. We will seriously address the grievances and concerns raised by them," the minister 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.

Why are just UP, Bihar on the edge?

The protest against the Ministry of Railways¡¯ recruitment process have been centred around Bihar and poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, which account for a bulk of the candidates who appeared for the common test for the Non Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) posts.

What escalated the protest leading to crackdown on students?

In Bihar, protesters torched four empty coaches of a stationary train in Gaya and blocked rail traffic between Gaya and Jehanabad on Wednesday. The students hampered the train services for nearly five hours, Patna district magistrate (DM) Dr Chandrashekhar Singh told ANI news agency.

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The agitating students stopped the passage of trains like Rajendra Nagar-New Delhi Tejas Rajdhani express, the Sampoorna Kranti express, South Bihar Expres, and Mumbai-bound Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express. Protests were also held in Patna, Bhagalpur and Sasaram.

In UP, three policemen were suspended a day after a crackdown on a group of students who allegedly tried to stop a train in Prayagraj on Tuesday. A case has also been lodged against three named and 1,000 unidentified protesters for rioting and stone-throwing.

Following the protest in Prayagraj, purported video clips of policemen entering the rooms of students by breaking down their doors, and beating them up were circulated on social media.

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Targeting the BJP government, both the Congress and SP tweeted about the alleged police action. Prayagraj SSP Ajay Kumar said three policemen had been suspended and would face departmental action for ¡°using unnecessary force¡±.

What does the police say?

¡°On January 25, around 1,000 rioters gathered at the railway station. Police had received information that the railway track would be blocked, and a train engine set on fire. Police made preparations and reached the spot¡­ The students were made to leave the place after being spoken to. Then some rioters among the students threw stones at police. After that, they went and hid in the lodges. The police team had gone there to look for them and rounded up several of them. Two prime suspects, identified as Pradeep Yadav and Mukesh Yadav, were arrested,¡± SSP Kumar said.

Yesterday, trains were set on fire in Bihar's Ara-Nawada, today the train was also burnt in Gaya district.

Can you imagine what this would have done during the CAA protest?pic.twitter.com/1kKMPx8GPU

¡ª Shuja (@shuja_2006) January 26, 2022

¡°You may have seen a video where some police officials are using unnecessary force. They have been identified, three of them have been suspended and will face strict action. On the other hand, the rioters who mingled with the students have been booked under 13 serious charges. Three have been named while around 1,000 are unidentified. Two have been arrested and are facing action. One other accused who spread rumours on social media and incited students has been identified as Rajendra Sachan, he will be arrested soon,¡± he said.

What is happening right now?

All India Students¡¯ Union (AISA) and other youth organisations have called for ¡®Bihar Bandh¡¯ on Friday to protest the alleged irregularities in Railway Recruitment Board's (RRB¡¯s) NTPC stage 1 exam results. The students¡¯ bodies termed the railway ministry¡¯s move to form a committee to look into the concerns of the students as a ¡°hoax¡±.

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The AISA and other youth organisations said in a press statement that the committee formed by the ministry is a "conspiracy" to postpone the matter till the elections in Uttar Pradesh.

They refused to bog down despite the assurance from the government, saying that this a massive movement of student youth, who are facing extreme unemployment.

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