Railways turns to Google Maps to allot nearer exam centres for candidates

The Railways is tapping Google Maps to match the candidates location with the exam centre’s location

For the first time, the Railways will leverage ‘Google maps’ to ensure that almost all the candidates are allotted an examination centre within 300 kilometres of their home for the upcoming exam scheduled on July 30. The decision came after several candidates raised concerns about the Railways fixing centres for RRB-NTPC exams far away from their location.

In the upcoming exam, about 60,000 candidates will give the computer-based exam for 7,026 posts at the allotted centre. In total, there are 90 centres across India.

“In previous exams, centres allotted could be as far as up to 1,000 km. This time, we are aiming that 99% of the candidates are allotted a centre which is within 300 km from his/her home. Longer distances were especially a big issue for differently-abled and women candidates,” a Railways official told The Hindu.

The official added that the Railways is tapping Google Maps to match the candidates location (pincode) with the exam centre’s location (pincode). Preference will be given to the distance shown for the train routes on the map, followed by the road distance.

“Accommodating all candidates within 300 kms is not possible in some places, for example in the North East India… but for 99% of the candidates this will be the case. Focus is on allotting the centre within the candidate’s State or nearby State with which the home State has good connectivity,” the official said, adding that all women candidates appearing for the exam have been allotted exam centres within 400 kilometres of their location.

The allotment of centres very far from their homes has been a long standing issue for the candidates, who have raised this several times, including on social media platforms.