In Bhopal division, the employee strength has reduced by 719 in five years.
The Indian Railways -- the country's largest employer -- has scrapped thousands of posts amid largescale unemployment and a devastating pandemic, NDTV has learnt. The scrapping of posts had started even before Covid hit the country and has been continuing for five years.
In reply to a query under the Right to Information Act, the Railways have informed Neemuch-based activist Chandrashekhar Gaur that between 2016-17 and 2020-21, 18,011 posts were surrendered in the entire Northern Railway. In that period, 12,881 new posts were created. So overall, there was a reduction of 5,130 posts.
Asked about the matter, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw refused to comment.
The RTI response to Mr Gaur revealed that in the Northern Railway, the number of sanctioned posts in Group C is 11,4065, of which 28,550 posts are vacant. In Group D, 53770 posts are sanctioned, of which 8,886 posts are vacant.
In Bhopal division alone, the sanctioned employee strength has reduced by 719 posts over the last five years. While 1,402 posts were surrendered, 683 new posts were created and the net reduction was of 719 posts.
The information from Railways comes amid students' protests over a change of rules in the Non-Technical Popular Categories exam of the railways.
The students are opposing the decision to hold the exam in two stages. The second stage is unfair to those who cleared the first stage, they say.
Around 1.25 crore candidates had applied for over 35,000 posts from level 2 to level 6. The pay scale ranges from Rs 19,900 to Rs 35,400 per month.
Earlier today, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has demanded an inquiry into the results declared by the railways. He also demanded that the cases registered against the protesting students be withdrawn.
Even BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi had remarked on the issue, pointing out that though one exam was announced from Group-D, it suddenly doubled. There is no requirement of two exams as Group-D exams are not selection of IAS and IPS, he said..
Regarding the scrapping of posts, RJD MP and member of Standing Committee of Railways Manoj Jha said, "Be it any zone -- Northern or western -- they are doing it with a purpose, it's deliberate". When posts are not filled, "you have to bear the consequences, because the capacity is bound to be affected," he said.
He also spoke of the police crackdown on protesting students.
"You must have seen visuals of young children being lathicharged, which indicates that the government does not have any roadmap to remove unemployment. This country will bear the brunt of it for generations to come," he added.