Trains pelted with stones by job aspirants

ARA: At least 35 passengers were injured when a group of students preparing for competitive examinations pelted stones at trains at

Ara railway station

on Tuesday to protest the failure of both central and state governments in creating job opportunities for them.

Police said a large number of students, mainly those preparing for various competitive examinations, stopped two express trains –

Mahananda Express

and

Archana Express

– for about two hours from 7.30am to 9.30am and indulged in stone pelting. The agitating students were protesting under the banner of ‘Berozgar Sangh-Ara’. At least 35 passengers of Archana Express were injured in stone pelting.

Sources said the students initially gathered in large numbers at Ara church and took out a protest march that passed through the main thoroughfares of the town and culminated at Ara railway station, where the students squatted on rail tracks, blocking the rail traffic between Howrah and Delhi for about two hours.

One of the agitating students, who wished not to be named, said, “For the last three years, very few railway vacancies have been advertised. Recruitments through Staff Selection Commission (SSC) have also fallen drastically. The problem is that there is no industry in the state to give employment to us. We are totally dependent on government jobs. However, lack of government jobs has made us unemployed. We request the state government to immediately conduct the intermediate level Bihar Staff Selection Commission exam and publish the graduation level final result which has been pending for many months. ”

Ara

railway station manager S K Jain said the seriously injured passengers of Archana Express were rushed to Buxar for treatment and those sustaining minor injuries were provided the first aid.