In a big relief to the nearly 48 lakh candidates appearing for the first set of computer-based tests for 26,502 positions of assistant loco pilots and technicians, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that the number of vacancies has been more than doubled to 60,000.
Around 47.56 lakh candidates have applied for the posts and the test is scheduled for August 9.
"Government has more than doubled the vacancies for assistant loco pilot and technician posts from 26,502 to 60,000, ensuring more jobs in Railways," Goyal tweeted.
Railways in a statement said the ministry had announced the recruitment for Assistant Loco Pilots and technicians for 26,502 posts in February 2018. But officials said the national transporter has now identified more such vacancies across its zones.
It also said candidates from across India have applied for the posts.
Under fire from some quarters for allotting examination centres in far away places, railways clarified that much care has been taken in allocating the centres.
"In conventional recruitment pattern, exams were conducted in decentralised manner by different RRBs and candidates travelled to the respective RRB zones to which they had applied. Centralised Computer Based examination provides the opportunity to reduce the travel requirements.
"That is how, about 40 lakh candidates have been allotted centres in their own/nearby cities and almost all women and Divyang (persons with disabilities) candidates have been allotted centres within short distance of 200 km," it said.
However, due to the constraint of availability of suitable exam centres, despite best efforts, everyone could not be accommodated in their own or nearby cities.
Candidates are, therefore, requested to make necessary arrangements to appear in the test, the statement urged.
Railways activated a mock link for the first stage of the computer-based test on July 26 and E-call letters can be downloaded from the recruitment board website four days before the exam.
Candidates can log in with their credentials on the above mentioned dates through a link to be provided on the official websites of the RRBs and find out about their exam centre, date and session, and download Travel Authority (for SC/ST candidates only) and E-call letter, a notice from the Railways had said last week.
The exam will last for an hour for general candidates and 80 minutes for candidates who are differently-abled. It will consist of 75 multiple choice questions and there will be a negative marking (1/3rd) for every incorrect answer.