Railway Recruitment Cell – Western Railway has declared an eligibility list against these vacancies and the same is in possession of this daily. It has shortlisted candidates in three categories – eligible, provisionally eligible and not eligible. Most of those who found themselves in the last category had submitted certificates from tournaments organised by the WFI.
“A few wrestlers who went for verification in Mumbai after filling up the forms online were asked to remove the Pune nationals certificates saying they were not recognised,” one of the Greco-Roman wrestlers, whose application was rejected, told this daily on the condition of anonymity.
A Railways’ coach held it unfortunate, saying the selective treatment is causing severe damage to the professional career of the budding wrestlers. “The Railways allowed its wrestlers, referees and coaches to accompany various teams sent by the WFI for international events including the Paris Olympics. But now it is not considering certificates from WFI’s tournaments valid. This selective treatment is harming upcoming wrestlers who need job security to continue wrestling,” the coach told this daily.
Interestingly, the Indian Army also invited applications for direct recruitment of havildar and naib subedar from 22 disciplines but didn’t specify validity and invalidity of any tournaments. It only specified the period, in this case between April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2024, during which the athletes should have competed in the international events, junior and senior nationals, Khelo India Games and Youth Games.
