New Delhi- Following an investigative report by The Mooknayak titled "Are PSU Recruitments Designed to Exclude SC-ST Candidates? Why Bahujan Communities Are Protesting Against RITES and BHEL" published on February 5, RITES LIMITED (Rail India Technical and Economic Service) has revisited and revised its application fee policy for SC/ST candidates.
The company has now announced that the application fee collected from SC/ST and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) candidates will be refunded to those who appear for the written test or interview. A corrigendum to this effect will be issued shortly.
Notably, The Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar National Association of Engineers (BANAE) condemned RITES, alleging discrimination against Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates in its recruitment process.
The decision comes after The Mooknayak raised key concerns over the recruitment process, highlighting violations of existing government policies on fee exemption for SC/ST candidates. RITES, in an official e-mail response, provided a point-by-point clarification regarding the concerns raised and acknowledged the need for policy revision.
Varun Bhattar, DGM (HR) in his response to The Mooknayak, confirmed the revision of the application fee policy and assured that a corrigendum would be issued to address the concerns raised.
The recruitment advertisement initially required SC/ST candidates to pay a processing fee of ₹300, violating the DoPT order dated July 1, 1985, which mandates full exemption from application fees for SC/ST applicants.
RITES’ Response: RITES initially justified the fee, stating that in previous recruitments where no fee was charged, a large number of ineligible and non-serious candidates applied, leading to delays and financial strain on the selection process. However, after receiving communication from The Mooknayak, the policy was re-evaluated. RITES has now decided to refund the application fee to all SC/ST and PwBD candidates who appear for the written test/interview.
"It is advised that earlier RITES was not charging any application fee from the candidates for Recruitment. However, in absence of any application fee, huge number of non-serious candidates including those who even did not meet the eligibility criteria also applied. The Selection Process comprised of Scrutiny of Documents, conduct of Written Test and conduct of Interview. Hence, provision in respect of all the candidates who had applied including those non-serious candidates also was required to be made for these processes having larger financial implications. However, despite having made the provisions, it was observed that these non-serious candidates, which consisted the major chunk, did not participate in the process.
As a consequence of the above, the Selection Process as a whole got delayed considerably besides resulting in avoidable expenditure and defeating the very purpose meeting the requirement of the Company with regard to induction of fresh manpower. Under the stated circumstances, it was decided to charge application fee from all the candidates with the intent of deterring the non-serious candidates as well as ineligible candidates from submitting applications. In the case of SC/ST employees, fee at a concessional rate was decided to be charged. Pertinent to mention here that the same resulted in elimination of applications by non-serious and ineligible candidates serving the very purpose of an expeditious completion of the Recruitment Process in a smoother and time-bound manner thereby accomplishing the goal and not compromising the quality of recruitment within the framework of the Rules, Regulations and Guidelines in this regard.
However, consequent upon receipt of your communication, the issue was revisited with an open mind holistically keeping in view the extant guidelines in the matter and the procedure of charging application fee from SC/ST and PwBD candidates has been revised. The application fee collected from SC/ST/PwBD candidates will henceforth be refunded to the candidates who appear in the written test / interview (as applicable). Corrigenda are being issued in respect of all those advertisements in which the last date of submission of online application is on a subsequent date including the one referred to in your e-mail communication. The same will also be followed in future in case of all the Recruitment Advertisements," the mail read.
The Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines (1953 & 1956) recommend a 60-day period for PSU recruitments to ensure broader participation.
RITES’ Response: Advertisement under VC Nos. for different posts on contract basis have been issued to meet urgent requirements of various project works which are to be completed in a time-bound manner. As there are strict timelines for deployment of staff, the advertisement has been issued with 20 days period with the purpose to hire the manpower on immediate basis.
The initial advertisement lacked explicit mention of category-wise reservations, raising concerns about transparency and compliance with constitutional provisions.
RITES’ Response: Category-wise division of vacancies for every post has been clearly notified in the detailed advertisement available on RITES Website reference of which has been taken in the Window Advertisements published in the Newspapers. As a matter of fact, the gist advertisement with discipline-wise vacancies published in the newspaper clearly states that “candidates may see the detailed advertisement posted on RITES website www.rites.com under Career Section”.
The absence of the issuing authority’s name in the recruitment advertisement raised doubts about whether it was officially approved and widely publicized as per the Information & Broadcasting Ministry’s norms.
RITES’ Response: The gist advertisement has been published under the name of RITES Limited, through the empaneled agency, in various newspapers viz. Times of India Ascent + Navbharat Times Job + Maharashtra Times + Dream Job, Amar Ujala, Viraat Ujala, Viraat Vaibhav + Gujarat Vaibhav, and Employment News. As such, it is stated that wide publicity has been given for the above vacancies. The Advertisement referred to in your e-mail communication will also be published in the Employment News.
The investigative report by The Mooknayak has led to a concrete policy change within RITES. The company has not only revised its application fee policy but has also assured stricter adherence to reservation norms and transparency in its recruitment process.
With PSU recruitments often facing scrutiny over their treatment of marginalized communities, this development marks an important step toward fairer hiring practices. The corrigendum for refunding SC/ST and PwBD candidates' application fees is expected to be issued soon, ensuring compliance with DoPT guidelines.
The Mooknayak will continue to monitor and report on developments in PSU recruitment policies to ensure that Bahujan rights are upheld in all government and public sector employment processes.
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