Unoin Railway Minister Nitish Kumar today went out of his way to explain how he had done his best to ensure that the ongoing recruitments were fair, transparent and as per procedures laid down by the Centre. Under pressure to fulfill regional aspirations, he announced attachment of various railway divisions with the respective Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) on a permanent basis. This would mean that 67 railway divisions will be attached to the 19 RRBs in the next phase of Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ recruitments. ‘‘When posts will be advertised, vacancies in each division would be mentioned so that the applicant knows where exactly he is heading and if he is selected, where he would be posted,’’ the minister said. But what he didn’t explain was how this new system would alter the ground situation. Even in the present system an applicant knew that if was taking his exam at Guwahati, he would be posted in North-East Frontier (NF) Railway. ‘‘It will make things more clear,’’ he said. When pressed further, Kumar retorted, ‘‘then you people tell me what to do.’’ There are 67 railway divisions, of which 18 cover one state while the other 49 fall in two or more states. ‘‘Pained’’ at allegations that the schedule of the RRB examinations had been finalised to help students from Bihar, he said the dates were fixed as a matter of convenience. At a hurriedly organised press briefing today, he had come armed with figures to buttress his point that applicants from Bihar were not in majority at the Guwahati centre. ‘‘There were only 15 per cent applicants from Bihar while the maximum — 46 per cent — were from Assam itself,’’ he clarified. Admitting he had received representations from various states for state-based recuitments, he said there was little he could do. ‘‘It is a Supreme Court directive followed by guidelines of the DoPT that vacancies in any region have to be advertised all over the country,’’ he said. Recounting what all he had done to rationalise the system within the given constraints the minister said he had included all the languages in VIII Schedule of the Constitution as an option for Group ‘D’ examinations, giving an edge to the local candidates. With an eye on the LS polls, Kumar also tried to quell the ‘‘perceived sense of discrimination’’ towards regions other than Bihar. ‘‘The railway minister has to come from one state or the other. I’ve not favoured Bihar and always tried to work for a balanced growth of railways in the country,’’ he added.
