oppn parties Protests Over Railways Recruitment: Pent Up Anger Over Unemployment Rate

Story Of The Day

The Sensex Did Not Crash. Its Closing Auction Did Its Job Too Well.

September 02, 2026

People Are Talking About

People Are Talking About the Language of Gen Z

News Snippets

  • Calcutta HC asks why are MPs facing egg-pelting, in the mohua Moitra case, allows the MP to enter her constituency with police protection
  • Police find fingerprints and other evidence of both the two accused and the rape survivor inside the bus in the Delhi gang rape case
  • Abhishek Upadhyay, the journalist who exposed the embezzlement of Ram Mandir funds, has sought Supreme Court help as Ghaziabad Police have sought his digital footprint from X. He claimed that such information will compromise the sources who provided him the information
  • Supreme Court quashes 127 FIRs in 5 states against students who took part in CJP stir. In repsonse, CJP cancels the September 5 march from India Gate to Delhi Police headquarters
  • TCS buys Best Buy's GCC operations in India, pips Accenture to the post in a deal worth around Rs 2000cr
  • To avoid stiff tariff, Aun Pharma offers to supply cheaper drugs at Most Favoured Nation pricing to US Medicaid programme
  • 5-member NCLT bench stays Subhash Chandra's Rs 6.5cr repayment order
  • Reliance entered the icecream space by launching Bombay Creamery
  • Copyright office rejects AI system as artwork author, says Parliament needs to make the legal position clear
  • GST collection jumps 15% in August to Rs 199853cr on the back of 29% jump in tax from imports
  • Asian Games: Japan Cricket Association says participating cricketing teams can arrange their own hotels as the Games are not directly under JCA
  • T20s versus Afghanistan: Bumrah and Samson return, Hardik still unfit. Sooryavanshi keeps his place
  • Duleep Trophy: South Zome have upper hand in the other semifinal
  • Duleep Trophy: East Zone beat Central Zone by four wickets to enter the final
  • PM Modi asks youth to make social media content on drug abuse
Duleep Trophy: South Zone beat North Zone by 7 wickets to set up the final clash with East Zone ////// Air Marshall (Retd) Jeetendra Sharma appointed the first CEO of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya
oppn parties
Protests Over Railways Recruitment: Pent Up Anger Over Unemployment Rate

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-01-28 14:07:00

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

When more than 1.25 crore people apply for less than 40000 job vacancies in what the Railways call non-technical popular category posts, which includes junior clerk, train assistant, guard, time-keeper and station master with the minimum qualification of Class 12 pass, and only 3.8 lakh are selected to take the second round test, the ground becomes fertile for protests and resentment on a large scale. Without in any way condoning what the applicants did - resorting to violence and burning trains - what happened was mainly due to the huge unemployment that has engulfed the country in the last decade and has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The Railways were in a difficult position as some candidates were eligible for multiple posts. Hence, out of the seven lakh applications selected for the second round test, the count stood at just 3.8 lakh applicants. The other applicants are now claiming that the short listing process was not scientific and has robbed them of an opportunity to take the test. The bulk of the applicants were from UP and Bihar and these two states witnessed violent protests.

Due to rampant joblessness, it has become routine for a disproportionately large number of people to apply for vacancies in any department and some of the applicants are much more qualified than the minimum requirement. The job market situation is such that a large number of aspirants are getting frustrated and opting out to look for other low-paying and casual jobs to make ends meet. The pandemic has reduced opportunities in the informal sector too. This is why the demand for more reservations in government jobs is growing and the demand for reservation in private sector jobs is also gaining momentum.

The government will have to take steps to rectify the situation by creating jobs, failing which the scenes witnessed in UP and Bihar will be repeated elsewhere in the country with growing regularity. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

7.8% GDP Growth Is Good News.

7.8% GDP Growth Is Good News.

 Accountability Cannot Be a Precondition to Debate

Accountability Cannot Be a Precondition to Debate

In Depth

The Taxman's Doppelganger: How India's ITR Filing Deadline Became a Phishing Season

The Taxman's Doppelganger: How India's ITR Filing Deadline Became a Phishing Season

Editor's Pick

Kangana Ranaut's War on 'Generation Gutter'

Kangana Ranaut's War on 'Generation Gutter'
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.