Indian Railways ‘Annual Recruitment Calendar’ has multiple benefits for candidates who want to participate in the job drive of the country’s premier transport organisation, Union Minister for Railway Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday.
The railways has come up with an annual recruitment calendar like other government agencies so that recruitment examinations can be conducted for prescribed categories within a time-bound manner every year.
According to the calendar, the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) will issue a notification for jobs of assistant loco pilots between January and March every year. The annual calendar has identified the months in which recruitment for different job categories will be conducted.
Notably, April, May, and June have been earmarked for recruitment to technical posts. Further, from July to September, aspirants who wish to join the railways as junior engineers, paramedics, and non-technical posts will be considered.
Systemic recruitment drives
The recruitment for Level 1 and ministerial and isolated categories has been scheduled for October to December.
“Employment notification will be issued four times a year for each category so that more and more candidates can get opportunities to participate. Earlier, when recruitment drives used to be held after a gap of three to four years, many candidates missed that opportunity due to the age bar,” Ashwini Vaishnaw informed.
“Now, when we have a calendar to hold recruitment every year, youngsters will have a huge advantage,” he added.
The benefits of the annual calendar
The annual recruitment calendar will have multiple benefits such as giving more opportunities if a candidate is unable to qualify in the first attempt.
“Let’s say a candidate applies for the position of assistant loco pilot between January and March and gets disqualified, he or she can get another opportunity the next year. If the same candidate has the required educational qualification for the job of a technician, he or she can apply for it between April and June in the same year,” a senior railways official said.
“Those who become eligible will get equal opportunities as well as better career progression. Besides, the calendar will make the recruitment process, training and appointments faster than what it used to be earlier,” he added.
1.5 lakh recruitments in Indian Railways
In January last month, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed that railways is planning to create more employment opportunities, and the employment process for 1.5 lakh posts is complete.
“We have recently completed the employment process for one lakh fifty-thousand employees and immediately after concluding that, we have started the new process from the selection of Assistant Loco Pilot (ALPs.) This is the first step,” Vaishnaw mentioned.
Earlier, the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) announced a substantial recruitment drive for Assistant Loco Pilot (ALP) positions across various Indian Railway zones. More than 5,000 ALP posts are now available, inviting interested candidates to apply online through the regional RRB websites.
