Streamlining of working of RRBs

Railway Board Letter No
E[RRB]/2009/25/20
Date
Circular Subject
Streamlining of working of RRBs

Railway Board had recently constituted a Committee to review the present system of recruitment in RRBs and to suggest measures for expeditious formation of panels.  The following recommendations have been accepted by the Board.  Board desire that these recommendations be implemented at the earliest and compliance reported to the Board.

1.        Model Time Schedule: Vide Railway Board’s letter No. E[NG]II/2000/RR-1/67 dated 18.7.2001, instructions already exist regarding placement of Indents by the Zonal Railways/PUs on RRBs on 1st March & 1st September each year.  The Committee has laid down a Model Time Schedule for the activities of RRBs.  A copy of the schedule is at Annexure-I.  This needs to be strictly adhered to.

2.        Same Day Examination: One of the recommendations accepted by the Board is to hold the examination for a particular post on the same date simultaneously by all the RRBs.  All the RRBs shall advise to the nodal RRB the number of vacancies to be filled up, category-wise together with community breakup.  Nodal RRB will issue Centralised Employment Notice on behalf of all participating RRBs clearly indicating the vacancies to be filled up by each participating RRB along with other details.  Individual RRBs will issue indicative Employment Notice[s] in the regional Newspapers.

2.1      Simultaneous Examination will be held once in a year.  Centralised Employment Notice by Nodal RRB and Indicative Employment Notice[s] by individual RRBs will be issued in consultation with Chairmen of participating RRBs.  Examination for more than one category may also be held simultaneously based on administrative convenience.

2.2      A candidate shall be free to apply to more than one RRB but he will be doing so at his own risk as the examination will be held by all RRBs on the same date. 

2.3      All RRBs [nodal/participating] shall set & print their own question paper and question booklets.  Evaluation of OMR sheets and subsequent stages of examination will also be done by respective RRBs.

2.4      The examination centres for each RRB can be fixed by each Chairman within or even outside his jurisdiction depending upon the need.     

2.5         List of nodal RRBs for various examinations is at Annexure-II.

3.        Setting of Question Papers in local languages: In addition to Hindi, Urdu and English, Question Papers shall be set in local languages listed in the Eighth Schedule  of the Constitution of India, falling within the jurisdiction of that RRB.  For this purpose, the first official language[s] of the State[s] in which all the Divisions/Units of that RRB are located, will be taken as the local language[s].  Since  the official work is done in Hindi/English only, to test the working knowledge level of the candidates, 10% weightage of marks will be given for testing Hindi/English language as per details given in Board’s letter E/RRB/2007/25/14 dated 4.3.2008.

4.        Selection of Printing Agency:  Before engaging any printing agency the Chairman should personally satisfy himself that the printer has foolproof security arrangements in the premises, experience of similar work, translation facilities, proof reading, reliable employees’ selection procedure, surveillance system, packing & safe transportation of question booklets.  Question Papers should be transported in sealed container trucks with tamperproof locks.  To make the agency legally liable, a written contract agreement should be entered into by the Chairman /RRB.

5.        On-line Examination: No fresh notification for on-line examination will be issued.  However, examination for which notification for on-line mode has already been issued will be completed as per notification.

6.           Other Recommendations:

6.1      Construction of Strong Rooms: Strong Rooms for storage of RRB examination material should be constructed in all RRBs and all Divisions/Units.  Chairmen/RRBs should make out proposals accordingly.

 Common design of Websites: Chairman/RRB/Bilaspur has been nominated to standardize the websites of all RRBs.  Chairmen of all RRBs should liaise with him for this purpose.

 Redesigning of OMR Sheet: OMR Answer Sheets are being redesigned to make the portion showing the candidates’ particulars detachable from the portion to be evaluated to maintain confidentiality of identity of the candidates.  Chairman/RRB/Jammu has been nominated to design the new OMR Sheet.

With the issue of this letter, the ban on publication of fresh Employment Notifications imposed vide Board’s letter No. E[RRB]2009/21/3 dated 12.6.09 stands withdrawn.  The directives contained in this letter will be applicable to Employment Notifications to be issued from now on.  The ongoing recruitment activities will continue as per earlier instructions. 

Annexure-I & Annexure-II