More attempts, faster RRB recruitment process: Railway minister on benefits of annual calendar

NEW DELHI: Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the annual railway recruitment calendar will have multiple benefits for aspirants who wish to take part in the recruitment process. The ministry has reduced the gap between recruitment drives and announced to issue the employment notification four times each year for each category.

The railway board on February 3 issued the annual calendar for recruitment exams of various categories.

As per the schedule, the recruitment exam for assistant loco pilot between January and March every year, tests for technical posts between April-June and July to September have been earmarked for junior engineers, paramedics and non-technical posts recruitment drives. Recruitment for Level 1 and ministerial and isolated categories have been slotted in for October to December.

RRB Recruitment 2024

The railway board used to conduct the recruitment for different posts with a gap of three to four years. As a result, several candidates become ineligible due to the age limit. To address this issue, the ministry said it will now issue employment notifications four times a year for each category to provide more opportunities to the candidates.

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"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 told the PTI.

"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.

“Even if I fail to qualify in the first attempt, I will be better prepared the next time due to that experience. When the recruitment was happening once every four or five years, there was no opportunity to learn from mistakes," PTI quoted Ajay Kumar, who is preparing for the assistant loco pilot's exam. "Now, I think, each candidate will get at least three to four attempts, brightening the scope for selection," he added.