DELHI: The railways on Wednesday said it has complied with legal requirements to recruit persons with disabilities (PwDs) and was trying to find ways to employ more of them, but made it clear that those who have not secured qualifying marks in the tests cannot be recruited.

A group of disabled protesters have been demonstrating against the railways near Mandi House barely four weeks weeks after a similar protest had brought this part of the city to standstill.

Railway officials said the last protest was under the banner of an organisation named “Toshiyas” led by one Saurabh Kumar. He had shared list of 184 disabled candidates across 10 railway zones. “This was examined carefully and it was found that none of the 184 candidates had secured the qualifying marks of 28%. We have sent the details to Kumar,” said a senior railway officer.
The current agitators, who were part of the earlier protest too, have now come under a different banner —Rashtriya Viklang Sangharsh Morcha— and Kumar has dissociated himself from them. Officials said five protesters had met them to submit their demands. One of the demands is “giving preference to those who have come to Delhi for agitation”.
On their demand of inter-changing or merger of all vacancies for four types of disabilities, the railways said it was impossible since unfilled vacancies for a particular category is carried forward to the next year. “Only if they remain unfilled for the next year as well, the interchange is possible, provided the vacancies are not filled by the specific category of candidates,” an official said.
On the demand of creating a common merit list for disabled candidates across all railway zones, the officials have said the vacancies are zone-specific and already over a thousand candidates have joined.
Manoj Pandey, the member (staff) Railway Board, said the ministry is considering some “divyangjan” (disabled) candidates who said they have unwittingly applied only against one disability (mainly locomotor disability) even though they have more than one disability and therefore are eligible for consideration under the multiple disability (MD) quota.
“To the extent that such candidates who have secured minimum qualifying marks in the written examination, efforts are being made to see if they can be adjusted against MD vacancies. This will result in freeing up vacancies in the single disability category so that some more divyangjan against that disability category can be appointed,” Pandey said. The ministry will take up this issue with the social justice ministry.