Indian Railways To Hire 2.3 Lakh Employees Over Next Two Years, 10% Posts For Economically Weaker Sections
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Indian Railways To Hire 2.3 Lakh Employees Over Next Two Years, 10% Posts For Economically Weaker Sections

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Railway minister Piyush Goyal on January 23, 2019, said that Indian Railways would hire 2.3 lakh employees over the course of the next two years. He also mentioned that 10% of these jobs will be reserved for the Economically Weaker Sections(EWS) in the general category, and the recruitment drive will be in two phases reported The Times of India. Indian Railways, the largest government employer has a sanctioned strength of nearly 15 lakh employees, of these 12 lakhs personnel are already on the job. In 2018, the railways started recruiting for 1,52,548 posts, thus leaving 1,31,428 jobs vacant. The railway board chairman V K Yadav said that by March-April, they shall complete the ongoing recruitment of 1.5 lakh employees.

A press statement issued by the railways stated that 53,000 and 46,000 employees will retire during 2019-20 and 2020-2021, thus creating an additional vacancy of around 99,000 posts. Adding the numbers, there will be total vacancies of 2.3 lakh employees in the railways in the next two years. According to a report by Live Mint, an official said that the Indian Railways is transforming. Currently, a lot of works are being outsourced, and it is expected that the government would try to increase the workforce to ease off the burden. However, a senior official further added that the railways, for the time being, is not likely to take any bold step.

The Railway Minister announced that Indian Railways will begin the first significant recruitment drive to implement the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections after the 103rd Constitutional Amendment passed by Parliament recently. He also said that a survey done by Naukri.com had revealed that 84% of the recruiters said that enormous job opportunities would be created in January-June 2019. It is 20% more than last time and with only 1% chance of layoff.



The Job Crisis

Earlier in 2018, the Indian railways received around two crores of applications for about one lakh vacancies reported Economic Times. This provides a clear picture of how the country’s unemployment rate has increased over the years. A surge in the number of educated adults in the country and the lack of job opportunities has compelled the youth to even apply for the most menial positions in the social hierarchy. India is considered to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world, however, it is constantly failing to create jobs for educated young people. According to a report by NDTV, it is anticipated that by 2021, the number of people falling under the age category of 15 to 34 will reach 48 crores, which can be a demographic disaster. This is likely to pressurise the government to create more jobs.

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Editor : Debarghya Sil

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