PIB News Update: The details of female candidates empanelled in technical category during last five years through Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) for various Group ‘C’ posts (excluding Level 1 erstwhile Group D) are as under:
| Year | Female Candidates Empanelled in Technical Category |
| 2016-2017 | 296 |
| 2017-2018 | 395 |
| 2018-2019 | 281 |
| 2019-2020 | 2233 |
| 2020-2021 | 71 |
Railway Recruitment Notifications are given wide publicity inviting applications from all candidates, irrespective of candidate’s gender. The details of applications received from female candidates against Centralized Employment Notifications (CENs) in technical category is as under:
| CEN No. & Post | Total Applicants | Female Applicants |
| 01/2018
(Assistant Loco Pilot & Technicians) |
4758218 | 475899 |
| 03/2018
(Junior Engineers/ Depot Material Superintendent/ Chemical Metallurgical Assistant) |
2492554 | 482324 |
Females employees of Railways including those engaged in technical jobs avail certain privileges as available to other Central Government female employees, such as provision of maternity leave, child care leave, special leave for promoting family welfare, special allowance to women with disabilities for child care, posting at same station as that of spouse as far as possible, mechanism for redressal of complaints under Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, crèches, ladies rest rooms etc.
Candidates for various posts in the Railways including technical posts are recruited through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for Group ‘A’ posts and Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and Railway Recruitment Cells (RRCs) for Group C posts including Level-1 through a system of open competitive examination. To encourage women candidates application fee collected from female candidates by RRBs and RRCs is fully refunded to those who appear in written examination. Facility of online application form ensures that women are able to apply even from their home. Further, certain relaxations are provided such as in upper age limit to certain eligible categories of female candidates, and for Level-1 recruitment, in the qualifying standards for the Physical Efficiency Test (PET).
This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.