TIRUCHY: The issue of appointing more North Indians to Grade-3 posts in Golden Rock railway workshop became further aggravated as hundreds of youth and activists picketed the main entrance in Ponmalai on Friday.
As news of the workshop management issuing appointment orders to some of the candidates who arrived in Tamil Nadu a few days ago for certificate verification spread, ex-Railways apprentices and youth joined the protest that took place from 11 am to 1 pm. There was heavy police and RPF presence at Ponmalai in view of the protest.
The protesters alleged the new recruits from North India came to Tamil Nadu by flight but did not self-isolate themselves. Instead, they participated in the certificate verification process and got appointment orders. However, the workshop management claimed the appointment process was still underway.
Recently, Railways conducted selections for Technician Grade-3 posts.
Of the 581 vacancies available, only 12 from Tamil Nadu were selected. The highest number of candidates were from Bihar with 163 and 115 from Rajasthan.
The workshop management recently conducted document verification in which 113 participated.
"Several Tamilians who finished their apprenticeships have been waiting for jobs since 2008, so how can so many people from the northern States be selected for the Technician Grade-3 post? We will continue our protest as the selection lacks transparency. Apart from this, we are still questioning how several candidates from North India were able to reach Tiruchy during lockdown. The collector should conduct an inquiry into this irregularity," said CPI(M) Ponmalai area secretary N Karthikeyan.
Meanwhile, rumours also spread the workshop has issued appointment orders to 40 candidates and they would join on Saturday. The agitators called off the protest and decided to stage it again on Saturday.