The Railway Ministry on Wednesday announced a high power committee, chaired by Deepak Peter, Principal Executive Director (Industrial Relation), Railway Board, to look into the concerns and doubts raised by candidates.

These actions come a day after the Ministry of Railways warned that job aspirants found indulging in unlawful activities may face lifetime debarment from obtaining a Railway job and that videos of such activities will be examined with the help of specialised agencies.

According to PTI, 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 (RRB) for the NTPC category.

At a press conference, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “We are listening to the students… They should not destroy their own property… we have followed all processes according to the notice…We will handle the issue with sensitivity. “The notice inviting for exams has a legal sanctity… Now that we have some grievances, we will have to find a solution in a manner that people who have been shortlisted, their career doesn’t get affected, but at the same time, grievances raised by students are addressed.” 

The Railways had received about 1.25 crore applications for 3,528 vacancies, of which 7,05,446 candidates were shortlisted. He also invited the students to formally put forth their grievances in the next three weeks, which will be examined by the committee and then submit recommendations by March 4.

In a statement, it said the Committee will look into issues raised by candidates, including results of the 1st Stage Computer Based Tests (CBT) of Centralised Employment Notice (CEN) 01/2019 (NTPC) and methodology used for shortlisting candidates for 2nd Stage CBT without affecting existing shortlisted candidates, introduction of 2nd Stage CBT in CEN RRC 01/2019, and give recommendations.