Railway Ministry enlists RRB for all departmental promotional exams after paper leaks

NEW DELHI : In a significant move, the Railway Ministry has roped in the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) to hold all departmental promotion examinations through a centralised computer-based test, officials said on Wednesday. The decision comes a day after the CBI arrested 26 railway officials of East Central Railway in Uttar Pradesh's Mughal Sarai for allegedly leaking papers of a departmental examination and seized Rs 1.17 crore cash during its raids.

Before the Ministry's decision, the departmental promotion exams were held by railway divisions and zones internally and of late several allegations of corruption and use of unfair means were reported in these exams. “Today, a high-level meeting was conducted by the Railway Board. It has been decided that all departmental promotion examinations will be done by RRB / centralised examination through CBT,” a press statement from the Railway Ministry said. It added, “All zonal railways will make a calendar for the examination. All the examinations will be conducted on the basis of a calendar only.”

The Ministry said that the responsibility has been handed over to RRB after considering its long experience of transparent, fair and highly appreciated examinations conducted in recent years. “From 2015 to till date, more than 7.7 crore candidates have appeared in exams through computer-based tests without any paper leakage, impersonation, remote log-in and use of spy devices,” the Ministry said. It said that the fair examination has been made possible due to the selection of exam conducting agencies through open tender with a criteria of Quality and Cost Based Selection among various other conditions.

RRB exams

It said that in such examinations conducted by RRB, the railway team conducts the auditing of examination centres where bathroom outside is not permitted, there is 100 per cent CCTV coverage and recording is done two hours pre-exam and one hour post exam among other things. “Venue/centre of examination is made available only four days before the exam. The exam centre is allotted through a computerised randomised generation avoiding manual intervention. "In the examination centres, checking & frisking of candidates is done with hand-held metal detectors,” the Ministry said, detailing several other steps taken to ensure fairness in holding the examinations.