New Delhi, July 30: Responding to Congress lawmaker Ranjeet Ranjan's query on why candidates of Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) online exam have been allotted centres as far as 1,000-km away from their residential cities, the Railway Ministry issued a statement in Lok Sabha claiming that most aspirants have been allocated centres within 200-km of their current locations.

"It is important to note that more than 47 lakh candidates have applied for the examination. Maximum care has been taken to allocate centres to the candidates in the same or nearby cities," the Railway Ministry said, responding to the Congress MP's question in the Zero Hour.

The statement further claimed that "71 per cent of the candidates", or nearly 34 lakh among them, have been allotted centres within 200-km of their cities of residence.

The Ministry also noted that 99 per cent of those candidates who are disabled have been allotted centres within 200-km of their cities, to minimise the inconvenience caused to them.

Explaining why some of the candidates have been allotted centres in other states, the Railway Ministry said it was "inevitable" to assign all candidates a centre close to their cities.

"Around nine lakh candidates from Bihar, 9.5 lakh from Uttar Pradesh and nearly 4.5 lakh from Rajasthan have applied for the exams. Interstate movement of some candidates is inevitable," the statement added.

In Bihar and UP, from where the maximum candidates have applied, the lack of infrastructure viz. metal detectors , CCTV and frisking has forced the Ministry to make inter-state allotment of exam centres.

"But here again it has been ensured that the candidates who had applied early have been accommodated in their own or nearby cities and states whereas those who had applied late, had to be moved out," the statement clarified.

A total of 47 lakh candidates have applied for 26,502 vacancies. Out of the total openings, only 2,292 are for Railway units in Bihar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2018 08:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).