Sri Vijaya Puram, Sept. 10: Shri Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, has taken up a crucial issue concerning the unemployed youth of the islands with Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Minister for Railways, Government of India.
In his communication, Shri Bishnu Pada Ray highlighted that in earlier years, the Ministry of Railways conducted selection drives and examinations for various categories of posts, enabling a significant number of islanders to secure employment in the Railways. Unfortunately, for the past several years, no such recruitment exercises have been conducted locally, depriving the island youth of valuable employment opportunities.
He emphasized that the absence of an examination centre in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands forces candidates to travel to mainland India, incurring heavy expenditure merely to appear in the exams. This financial burden has prevented many qualified aspirants from participating in the recruitment process.
Pointing out that the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are a geographically isolated and backward region with very limited employment avenues in both government and private sectors, Shri Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble MP stressed the urgent need for corrective measures.
Accordingly, the Hon’ble MP has requested the Railway Minister to (i) Conduct Railway recruitment drives in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands for various categories of posts (ii) Establish a permanent Railway Examination Centre at Sri Vijaya Puram, A&N Islands, to facilitate participation of island candidates without the burden of travelling to the mainland.
Shri Ray stated that such steps would provide fair and equal opportunity to the unemployed youth of these far-flung islands and fulfil their long-cherished aspirations to serve in the Indian Railways.