RRB-NTPC exam: High-power committee formed to look into concerns raised by candidates, says Ministry of Railways

A high-power committee comprising of senior officials has been formed to look into the concerns raised by candidates in regard to the results of 1st Stage Computer Based Test (CBT) of NTPC exam without affecting existing shortlisted candidates and Introduction of 2nd Stage CBT in CEN RRC, the Ministry of Railways said in a release on Friday.

The candidates can lodge their concerns and suggestions to the committee till 16 February at rrbcommittee@railnet.gov.in. The committee after examining these concerns will submit their recommendations by March 4, the release added.

This comes amid the protest of students over alleged irregularities in the Railway Recruitment Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC) exam 2021.

The protests started after several students claimed that there were discrepancies in the RRB recruitment process. The government's decision to conduct two computer-based tests (CBT) for the RRB Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) had irked thousands of students who wanted a single test.

The results for CBT-I for Group-D jobs was released on January 14, shortlisting candidates for CBT-II. The protesters had claimed that this criterion for recruitment was clarified in the initial RRB notice inviting applicants.

They said notice had spoken of only one exam.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Railways in the release said, "In response to the concerns raised by candidates over the questions raised over the 2-stage Computer Based Test (CBT) conducted as part of recruitment process, Railways has clarified that in case the number of candidates who have applied against the notification are large in number and are more than one crore, then, it is advisable to conduct CBT in two stages with 1st Stage being used to screen the candidates for 2nd Stage and 2nd Stage CBT conducted with limited candidates so that extensive normalization is not involved and the final merit is more just and fair."

"With regards to the concerns over number of candidates being shortlisted for 2nd stage CBT, Railways has stated that for Centralized Employment Notification (CEN) 01/2019, the 1st stage CBT has been made common for Graduates and 10+2 pass candidates, it has been prescribed in the CEN that candidates 20 times the notified vacancies will be called for 2nd Stage CBT so that adequate candidates are given opportunity to appear in 2nd Stage CBT after screening through 1st Stage CBT," it added.

Check out the release here:

Published on: Friday, January 28, 2022, 05:00 PM IST