In a good news for the railway job aspirants who had protested against irregularities in the Railway Recruitment Board Level-1 and NTPC examinations, the national transporter agreed to all their demands on Thursday. The decision that came soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) poll victory in four of the five states. The decision was taken after a high-level committee submitted its report to the Railway Board.

In a major reversal of its policy to hold the Level-1 exams to recruit Group-D employees through two computer-based tests (CBTs), the Indian Railways has now agreed to conduct only a single test. The recruitment drive for the Non Technical Popular Categories (NTPCs) for 35,281 vacant posts in various categories ranging from junior clerk, train assistant, guard, time-keeper to station master was at the centre of widespread protests in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand earlier this month.

The aspirants alleged that while over seven lakh “applications” were shortlisted, the actual number of candidates was around 3.84 lakh, as the same person might have been shortlisted for more than one post. The railways on Thursday said the number of “unique candidates” shortlisted pay level-wise will be 20 times higher than that of vacant posts for the second-stage computer-based test (CBT) for the NTPCs.