New Delhi, July 9 : Indian Railways has already handed out over 9,000 appointment letters in the first quarter of the financial year 2025-26 (Q1 FY26), and is on track to offer more than 50,000 jobs by the end of this fiscal year, the Ministry of Railways announced on Wednesday.

The Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) have been actively conducting large-scale recruitment drives to fill various positions.

Since November 2024, the RRBs have held Computer-Based Tests (CBTs) for over 1.86 crore candidates across the country for seven different recruitment notifications.

These notifications together aim to fill 55,197 vacancies, most of which will be appointed during the current financial year.

Conducting exams for such a large number of candidates is a massive task that requires detailed planning and coordination.

To make the process more convenient, RRBs have started allotting exam centres closer to the candidates' homes.

Special priority is being given to female candidates and persons with benchmark disabilities (PwBDs) for local centres.

This change has increased the need for more exam centres and staff, but is aimed at making the recruitment process more accessible and inclusive.

To ensure transparency and fairness, RRBs have introduced Aadhaar-based e-KYC authentication for the first time in such large-scale exams.

This step has seen a high success rate of over 95 per cent in verifying candidates' identities.

Additionally, to curb cheating and the use of unfair means, jammers are now being used in 100 per cent of the exam centres to block electronic communication.

The recruitment drive is not slowing down anytime soon. Following the annual calendar, twelve more notifications have already been issued since 2024, aiming to fill 1,08,324 vacancies.

With this, another 50,000-plus appointments are expected to be made in the financial year 2026-27.

/IANS