Mumbai, March 20:  The Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal has said that recruitment in Railways is underway at a large scale. He also informed that on directives of Supreme Court, Indian Railways has made a recruitment policy that is unbiased & transparent. Minister Piyush Goyal was speaking to the media shortly after Railway job aspirants' agitation in Mumbai that blocked and disrupted Mumbai local train services during peak hours.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devandra Fadnavis, talking to news agency ANI, confirmed that he was in continuous touch with officials. He added that no rules have changed and that 20% seats are reserved for apprentices but they (protesting students) are demanding more. The chief minister confirmed that Lathi-charge was done on students  after agitators started pelting stones and said no one was injured.

Earlier on Tuesday morning of 20 March, around 500 apprentice students demanding permanent jobs from Railways did a rail-roko affecting the services on Mumbai's Central Railway route. The protest affected office goers and commuters as the local train services were hit during peak hours.

The Railway Ministers assurance came soon after the protests were called off and services resumed on Mumbai's Central line rail route:

The students in Mumbai who did this Rail roko protest have said that they will protest again if their demand for more jobs are not met. The government claims that more jobs in railways will be provided and that vacant seats will soon be filled. Students protest in recent days have been growing. This protest is preceded by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) aspiring candidates protest regarding SSC paper leak scam.  Students at the four campuses of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) had stalled academic work on February 21. According to a report in The Indian Express, the students were protesting  "the administration’s decision to withdraw a fee waiver offered to SC, ST and OBC students, who are eligible for the Government of India Post-Matric Scholarship (GoI-PMS)." The Hindu, on February had reported that one of the students demand were met after the administration agreed to exempt SC/ST students of the 2016-18 batch from paying hostel and dining hall fees.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 20, 2018 12:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).