Railways denies hiring third-party sources for recruitment

The Indian Railways clarified that it has not nominated any agent, coaching centers, intermediary or any other persons/institutes for recruitment of personnel, and said that any persons/institutes found to be giving false promises must be reported immediately.

"Recruitment for all of these posts is being conducted in most fair and transparent manner as per rules. The recruitment is based on Computer-Based Tests (CBTs). These tests are being taken in a secure environment in selected centers spread all over India. The centers have features like CCTV, secured internet connection. There is no way of getting selected by any illegal means," an official release said.

Railways have time and again warned the candidates not to fall prey to fraudulent promises by any imposter, tout or broker through notices in national and regional newspapers.

The Indian Railways is conducting recruitment for various posts. This includes about 64 thousand posts of Assistant Loco Pilots and various categories of technicians (i.e. Group 'C' posts) and about 63 thousand posts of Level-1 like Track Maintainers, Assistant Pointsmen (Erstwhile Group-D).

This recruitment is being conducted through Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs). The Railways is also conducting recruitment for 8619 constables and 1120 sub-inspectors in Railway Protection Force (RPF). Recruitment for this is being done by Director General of RPF.

For Group 'C' posts, about 47 lakh candidates have applied. For Level-1 posts, about 1.89 crore candidates have applied. For constables and sub-inspectors in RPF about 58 lakh and 14 lakh candidates have applied, respectively.

The Railways' clarification came after reports of certain unscrupulous private persons who were attempting to cheat several aspiring candidates surfaced. These persons allegedly claimed that there was a quota of Minister of Railways through which candidates could qualify by paying a bribe.

An amount of Rs. 93 lakh was reportedly collected by a group of private persons from candidates in Maharashtra, especially in Vasai. Accordingly, Railways lodged an FIR at Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg (MRA) Police Station in Mumbai under sections 419, 420 and 34 of Indian Penal Code, after which two persons were arrested.