IIT Bombay graduate takes up RRB Group D job of a Trackman for 'job-safety', appointed at Dhanbad

In a bizarre and even alarming case, a post-graduate engineer from IIT Bombay – India’s premier institute for engineering, has taken up the RRB Group D job. The engineer appeared for the RRB Group D examination which were conducted last year and recently acceted the appointment as a trackman in Dhanbad. The candidates, Shrawan Kumar hails from Bihar and has completed his B.Tech and M.Tech from IIT Bombay.

In the intense shortage of jobs, the appointment raises multiple questions. A track maintainer’s required educational qualification for Group D employment is an ITI degree for different trades. As such, for a post graduate engineer student, an IITian no less, to pick up the job raises questions for candidates.

Shrawan has been appointed as a track maintainer in Dhanbad. The job includes manual inspection of the tracks. As to why has the engineer done that? The answer, as shared by him is ‘job-safety’ and not paucity of jobs as many may thing.

Shrawan has been appointed as the track maintainer in the Dhanbad Division of Indian Railways. The post is popularly known as trackman, which is a rather lower-position often filled by students holding an ITI Degree in different trades. Shrawan Kumar has been posted at  Chandrapura under Public Works Inspector or PWI, Telo and looks after the track maintenance between Chandrapura and Telo section.

Shrawan belongs to Patna, Bihar. He pursued his engineering from IIT Bombay under an integrated duel degree course in the year 2010. He completed his B.Tech + M.Tech programme from IIT Bombay in 2015. Shrawan joining Dhanbad Railway Division as a trackman has surprised several senior officers from the division. They never expected someone with such an advanced degree accepting a ‘Group D’ post. He attributed accepting RRB Group D Posting as a ‘trackman’ despite having an engineering degree from IIT Bombay due to ‘job safety’.

Shrawan said that he wanted to become a Government Servant since childhood and join a Sarkari Naukri. He is confident that he will be able crack an ‘officer-level’ role in Government Sector soon. The eligibility criteria for different posts offered under RRB Group D Recruitment are different. The primary or basic qualification is to qualify Class 10 Board Exam. Therefore, an IITian with Master’s degree from one of the top and most reputed technology institutes of the country accepting RRB Group D Post has surprised many.