Mumbai, March 20: Around 500 apprentice students demanding permanent jobs from Railways did a rail-roko on Tuesday morning affecting the services on Mumbai's Central Railway route.

According to reports, the agitation began around 7 am on all the three railway lines of Mumbai between Matunga and Dadar.

According to a report in The Times of India, the Central Railway issued a release on Tuesday which said, "There is no provision of giving jobs to the apprentices as per the Apprentice Act. They are given only training for a specified period to improve their skills and experience of having worked in the field. However, Ministry of Railways have taken a decision and reserved 20% of the seats filled through direct recruitment. The notification is already issued with last date of submitting application as 31.3.2018. Apprentices can apply against this notification and Special Examination will shortly be held for Apprentices who have done training in Railway Workshops under Apprentices Act." The Railway services on Mumbai's local line was affected due to the protests.

Meanwhile, the BEST- government's bus services in Mumbai has announced special buses plying from Dadar and Matunga station.

The students are protesting, reportedly, because the apprentice students have not been given permanent jobs even after four years. “There has been no recruitment in the last four years,” one of the protestors told PTI.

Politics over the issue has also began with the Sharad Pawar led NCP accusing the state government of intelligence failure. Shiv Sena leaders have said that they would be meeting the Railway minister later in the day.

According to reports, the Railway Minister will address the press later in the day:

Some reports suggest that the train services have resumed on Central Railway line:

CNN News18 quoted a protesting student saying that, "Our demand is that RRC/RRB apprentice students should be given permanent jobs under Group D category. The RCC -20 quota system should be made into a one time settlement."

The protest has come to an end after authorities from GM Office Staff of the Railways have promised to look into the demands of the students to provide more railway jobs.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 20, 2018 11:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).