The Railways will recruit 2.3 lakh people in various posts over the next two years, the Railway Board decided on Wednesday, to fill up effectively all existing vacancies. This recruitment will have the new provision of 10 per cent — about 23,000 posts — reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in general category.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that taken together with the ongoing process to recruit 1.5 lakh people, the total number of jobs up for grabs in Railways is now almost 4 lakh.
“We have decided that in all categories as and when vacancies happen over the next two years, we will fill them up. That assessment was done today. This includes around 1 lakh vacancies that arise due to retirements in the next two years,” Goyal said.
The decision is also being viewed as an attempt to impact the political narrative around jobs in the run up to the 2019 general election. The ongoing recruitment process will conclude by March-April this year. The ongoing recruitment of 1.5 lakh personnel will add to the Railways’ salary burden from the next fiscal, 2019-2020.
