Karnataka   

Protests stall Railways recruitment

BANGALORE: Protests against ‘injustice’ to Kannadigas in railway recruitment have not only halted the Group D recruitment process in the South Western Railway (SWR), but also affected recruitment of to nearly 2,000 Group C technical posts, including that of assistant loco drivers and assistant station masters.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a souvenir release function here on Wednesday, SWR General Manager Praveen Kumar said the Railway Recruitment Board, Bangalore, had put on hold the recruitment process of Group C posts.

Stating that job aspirants from Karnataka will stand to gain as the recruitment process was being held within the State, Mr. Kumar said the Railways could not assure local recruitment unless the Constitution and the recruitment rules were amended.

As a newly created zone, working of SWR continues to be hindered by shortage of staff. As of now, nearly 7,000 out of 40,000 sanctioned posts were vacant.

New trains were being added regularly and augmentation of services needed constant increase in manpower.

On introduction of new trains on the Sakaleshpur–Subramanya Road (ghat) section between Hassan and Mangalore, Mr. Kumar said the SWR would wait till the end of the next monsoon. The track could handle seven pairs of trains a day, and five pairs were running.

The ghat section witnessed 27 landslips last monsoon and the SWR will install safety measures on the lines of the Konkan Railway, including the “bouldernetting,” and anti-collision device.

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