The railway ministry has conceded it has revised the minimum qualification required to apply for the job of a track maintainer because recent recruits for the position were highly qualified and showed reluctance to work.

The minimum education qualification for the position was Class VIII, which was later increased to Class X.

In July, the minimum qualification required was again revised to make it mandatory for applicants to have Industrial Training Institute certification.

Officials said the applicants appearing for the exam were often found to be Commerce and Science graduates and post- graduates.

“The problem is that when MBAs, BE engineers are joining as trackmen, they were unable to get dignity of labour which is essential. They do not want to walk the tracks and are usually preparing for other competitive exams,” an official said.

Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha said yesterday that the railways was getting over qualified personnel.

“Some of the track maintainers recruited in the recent past on Indian Railways possess higher qualification than the minimum prescribed for the post. Some of these highly qualified track maintainers show reluctance to perform manual works required to be carried out by them.

“However, the ministry of railways has revised the minimum qualification required for recruitment as track maintainer to deal with the matter,” the MoS said.