Minority welfare cells to be set up in railway board and in all zonal offices

Presenting the Railway Budget for 2008-09 in the Lok Sabha today, the Minister of Railways, Shri Lalu Prasad said that his Ministry has issued directions for setting up minority cells in all Zonal Railway offices and in the Railway Board for promoting minorities’ welfare and ensuring their adequate representation in railway services. It has been made mandatory to have one member from the minority community in all the recruitment boards and committees.

It has also been decided to issue recruitment notices in Urdu newspapers, published in the States having Urdu as the second official language. Instructions have also been issued to permit Urdu also as a medium of examination for Group ‘D’ posts in such states.

Shri Lalu Prasad informed the House that a special campaign had been launched to clear the backlog vacancies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and nearly 99 per cent identified vacancies had been filled up so far. He said that recruitment from SC, ST and Other Backward Classes in Group ‘D’ had in fact exceeded their respective earmarked quota in 2007-08.

Source : Press Information Bureau

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