Railway Recruitment 2019: 5 crore applicants, 2.8 lakh vacancies, 61.5-88% attendance in exams

Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), Ministry of Railways, Government of India, is responsible for the conduct of all the mega railway recruitment 2019 processes. A total of 7 recruitment notifications have been released since last year for 2,83,328 vacancies. A mind boggling number of 5,09,82,157 applications were received by Indian Railways for these recruitment.

The notifications are CEN 01/2018 for ALP and technician recruitment, CEN 02/2018 for group D, CEN 03/2018 for junior engineer. Then CEN 01/2019 for NTPC recruitment, CEN 02/2019 for paramedical, CEN 03/2019 for ministerial posts, and RRC CEN 01/2019 for group D again. 

First of the many notifications, against which the recruitment processes started, was that of ALP and technician with 64,371 vacancies. An exact number of 47,58,218 candidates had applied.

Then the second one was for CEN 02/12018, group D for 62,907 vacancies. An unprecedented number of 1,89,82,719 candidates had applied for it. This is the highest number of applications received in a single job posting, and highest even in railways recruitment. 

These first two notifications were held almost parallely. 

ALP and technician CBT 1 was conducted from August 9 to September 4 , on 11 exam dates, in a total of 3 shifts, in 439 centres, at 165 cities. Not more than 1,62,179 candidates were given the same shift. In the exam, 77% candidates were present, equal to around 36.42 lakh. 

For the same recruitment, CBT 2 was held from January 21 to 23in a total of 9 shifts. In it, 88% candidates appeared. This was followed by a computer based test for assistant loco pilot position on May 10, in which, 84% candidates appeared. After that was document verification. 

Till date, railways has furnished around 17,500 vacancies, and some are under process due to medical appeal cases. 

Group D exam was held from September 17 to December 17. The total number of days turned out to be 51 days, number of shifts in this exam came out to be 152, another record broken by the recruitment along with highest number of candidates. The test was held in 405 centres in 166 cities. Around 61.71% of the candidates that is 1,17,14,754 appeared in the exam. After that, physical efficiency tests were held, document verification, and medical examination. 

For this post, around 53,000 posts have been furnished to the Indian Railways. Other panels are in process. 

Then RRB JE CEN 03/2018 recruitment was conducted. Its 1st stage exam was from May 22 to June 2, and then June 26 to 28. The tests took place in 12 days, in 35 shifts, and 356 exam centers in 109 cities. In the exam, attendance was 62.5%. 

After that railways conducted CBT 2 from August 28 to September 1, in a total of 10 shifts. In this exam, the attendance turned out to be 88%. 

Though with fewer vacancies that other recruitment, the CEN 02/2019 paramedical recruitment also has impressive numbers. Against 1,923 vacancies in it, 4,47,593 candidates had applied. The exams were held on 9 dates, in 86 cities, at 224 centres. In each shift, not more than 61,123 candidates were allotted.

Railway exams have been held in 15 languages Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali,Gujarati, Kannada, Konkani,Marathi, Manipuri, Malayalam,Odia, Punjabi,Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

In the near future, as per reports this month of December, RRB CEN 01/2019 (NTPC), RRB CEN 03/2019 (Ministerial), and RRC CEN 01/2019 (Group D) recruitment processes will move forward. In some cases application status, exam date, admit card, city status are yet to come. Whereas in some like group D, application status is out and other events are looked forward to.

It is now expected that RRB group D exam date and admit card, and RRB NTPC exam date and admit card, will be announced either in November or December. All updates pertaining to railways are published on the official websites of the 21 RRBs.