MP Kalanidhi seeks probe into Railway Recruitment Board’s reservation policy implementation

Chennai MP urges Railway Minister to investigate alleged reservation policy manipulation by Railway Recruitment Boards.

Chennai North constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Kalanidhi Veeraswamy wrote to Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, to launch an investigation into the alleged manipulation of the reservation policy by Railway Recruitment Board (RRB).

The MP, in his letter dated August 22, claimed that RRB officials deliberately lowered the cut-off marks for the General Category in various posts, thereby excluding roughly 3,000-4,000 candidates belonging to the Other Backward Castes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) who had scored higher marks than the General Category cutoff.

According to him, the actions of the RRB officials were “part of a wider plan to undermine the policy of reservation” and that the issue persisted after the 2024 general elections.

Further, Mr. Veeraswamy pointed out that he had raised the matter during the Zero Hour in Parliament on March 28, 2022, and discussed it when he met the Minister on April 1, 2022, yet, he had not received any satisfactory explanation.

In his letter, the MP called for a thorough investigation into the matter by a joint team from the respective National Commission for SC, ST, and BC, along with officials from the Department of Personnel and Training, to ensure that the reservation rules were being followed without deviation.