1.25 crore. That’s the number of applications received for little over 35,000 vacancies in the highly competitive Railway Recruitment Board’s Non-Technical Popular Category (NTPC) recruitment exam.
However, a recent notification by the RRB of conducting a second qualifying exam to confirm the selection of candidates led to thousands of aspirants taking the street across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for three consecutive days, blocking the movement of around 25 trains. The protest also turned violent on 26 January, with railways tracks set ablaze in UP’s Prayagraj and a train coach set on fire in Bihar’s Gaya.