Latur Organisations Demand 80% Local Reservation In Marathwada Rail Coach Factory Recruitment

Latur: Members of several local organisations have raised strong objections against the alleged neglect of local candidates in the Marathwada Rail Coach Factory’s recruitment process. On Monday, they submitted a memorandum to the District Collector, demanding that 80 per cent of the jobs at the factory be reserved for youths from Latur district. The members in the memorandum claimed that despite the factory being established to boost local employment, candidates from other states are being preferred, while qualified local youths are left out. They urged the administration to intervene immediately and ensure justice for Latur’s educated and skilled workforce.

They accused Kinet Railway Solutions Ltd., the private partner operating the Marathwada Rail Coach Factory, Latur, of sidelining local youth and entrepreneurs in employment and business opportunities.

The manufacturing unit, set up under Indian Railways and currently operated by Kinet Railway Solutions Ltd. as part of a seven-year joint agreement, has reportedly ignored Latur’s educated and skilled youth in recruitment. Instead, candidates from Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and South India are allegedly being given preference.

According to the complaint, in the past one and a half years, the company has recruited only 150 employees, of whom barely 8 to 10 belong to Latur and nearby areas. Most of them are on one-year fixed-term contracts. The firm is also accused of conducting recruitment drives in Gujarat without informing locals or advertising vacancies in Marathi newspapers.

The letter further alleges that the company has not coordinated with local industries or MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) officials, defeating the central government’s stated purpose of setting up the factory in Latur to boost local employment and entrepreneurship in the Marathwada region.

Several grievances have been listed: no training programmes for local unskilled youth, recruitment of relatives of outstation employees, and local engineers forced to work as cleaners or security guards through third-party agencies.

The representation urges the District Collector to intervene and has sought that the matter be escalated to the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, and Union Railway Minister.

The key demands in the memorandum include: reservation of at least 80 per cent of permanent and contractual posts for local candidates, with recruitment advertisements in Marathi dailies; disclosure of the number of Latur-based employees currently on Kinet’s payroll versus those from other states; information on local entrepreneurs invited to the vendor meet held in Latur earlier this year; a timeline for future recruitment, in line with the Chief Minister’s public assurance that 10,000 local youth will be employed within a year; clarification on whether upcoming recruitment will be on a permanent or fixed-term basis; formation of a local monitoring committee including representatives from the Collector office, MIDC, technical institutes, and local citizens to oversee fair recruitment; and measures to regularise or promote local ITI, diploma, and engineering graduates currently employed as low-grade staff through contractors.

The representatives also demanded the District Collector’s office release a detailed report within ten days and ensure justice for the educated and skilled youth of Latur and Marathwada.

While presenting a memorandum to the Collector, Adv Rahul Matolkar, Sudhir Salunkhe, Baswaraj Rekulge, Pravin Salunkhe, Pravin Birajdar, Nagnath Mule, Atul Nagar, Sudhakar Patil and many others were present.