UP Police Barge In Lodge, Track Students Protesting Against Railways Recruitment; Cops Allege Ruckus

The Uttar Pradesh police barged into a lodge in Chota Baghada, in Prayagraj on Tuesday, January 26, to crackdown students who staged protests alleging irregularities in Railway Recruitment Board's exam, and tried to stop trains.

In a 00:16 second viral clip, the cops could be seen banging the door with the handle of their firearms, breaking them, barging into the room, flogging students and taking them out.

The video was shared by several people, including Congress and Samajwadi Party, calling out the state government over the alleged vandalisation.

Samajwadi Party condemned the police entering the hostel premises to beat up students in a brutal lathicharge. The party said such acts would only give rise to youth revolution.

No Harassment, Cracked Down Miscreants

Speaking to The Financial Express, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Dinesh Kumar denied vandalisation and assaulting students. Kumar said the cops barged into the hostel to crack down a bunch of miscreants who tried to stop the train during the protest. The boys were not part of the protest earlier; they suddenly came out on the road and reached the railway track.

Kumar assured stringent action against the people involved. The police are also interrogating six-seven students who led the protest.

Police Deployed To Disperse Crowd

Prayagraj SP, Ajay Kumar, informed that the department had received information about thousands of students creating a ruckus near Prayag Railway Station and had blocked the rail track. There were reports that some miscreants were trying to set ablaze the train. The personnel were deployed to disperse the crowd.

The SP said they would suspend the cops who have used unnecessary force.

Why Are Students Protesting?

Thousands of Railways job aspirants have alleged inaccurate results of the Railway Recruitment Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC) competitive exam, 2021, that came out on January 15.

Candidates have opposed the department's decision of giving examinations in two stages, alleging that the second stage for final selection is tantamount to cheating those who appeared and cleared the first stage of the RRB-NTPC for computer-based test (CBT).

The aspirants have also alleged that the screening process favours higher qualifications, even for jobs requiring lesser qualifications.

According to the ZeeNews report, the railways had announced vacancies for 35,281 posts, of which, 24,281 seats in 13 categories were open to graduates, and 11,000 seats in six categories were for undergraduates.

The 13 categories were further divided into five groups based on the Seventh Central Pay Commission pay-scale levels - 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

These posts were for a trained assistant, guard, junior clerk, timekeeper, station master, etc. A Class 12 pass individual is eligible for Level 2, while for a level 6 post like station master, one needs to be a graduate.

The aspirants have alleged the Computer Based Test -1 means for Level 2 exams were taken by people with higher qualifications.

RRB-NTPC Exam Suspended

Day after the students got down to railways station and blocked the arterial Delhi-Kolkata line for several hours and delayed several trains, the Indian Railways had warned lifetime ban on employment.

Committee For Students' Grievances

As per the latest report, the department has suspended decided to suspend its NTPC and Level 1 tests. The administration had also formed a panel to address the grievance of the candidates who cleared and failed the exams under different railway recruitment boards (RRBs).

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