Consent for loco pilots from Gorakhpur withdrawn

Southern Railway (SR) has conceded to political pressure and withdrawn its consent to divert Assistant Loco Pilots (ALPs) recruited at Gorakhpur in Northeastern railway to the southern zone.

SK Indusekar, assistant personnel officer (traffic) had written to the chairman of Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), Gorakhpur on September 28, intimating the decision to withdraw consent given by the Southern Railway for the proposed diversion.

Citing the earlier correspondence from Gorakhpur, the personnel department of Southern Railway wrote, “The competent authority has withdrawn the consent for proposed diversion of ALP papers from NER/Gorakhpur to Southern Railway.” The letter also stated that the position (taken by SR) has already been advised to the Railway Board (RB) and copied to the office of chairman, RRB/Gorakhpur. “Hence, the RRB paper has not been accepted and returned,” added the SR letter, which was posted on social media by Madurai MP Su Venkatesan who was the first to flag the issue.

Last week, Venkatesan wrote to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, objecting to diverting ALPs with low cut off marks from Gorakhpur to SR by keeping ALPs recruited by RRB, South on standby.

AM Arif, a MP from Kerala, also wrote to the Southern Railway general manager for the flawed recruitment process. SR has responded to the MPs’ outcry by withdrawing the consent it earlier gave to the northeastern railway to divert its recruits to the southern zone.

Last week, Venkatesan wrote to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, objecting to diverting ALPs with low cut off marks from Gorakhpur