Viral circular for constables and sub-inspectors' recruitment in Indian Railways is fake

What is the claim? 

Some social media users and news outlets are sharing a purported official notification announcing job openings for constable and sub-inspector posts in the Railway Protection Force (RPF)—the Indian law enforcement agency that is responsible for the safety of railway passengers and railway property. The viral notification has been attributed to the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), which handles job appointments for Indian Railways. The notification mentioned ‘Government of India, Ministry of Railways’ (under whose aegis the RRB functions) on top as well.

The purported circular, being shared on social media sites such as Facebook (archived here, here and here), states that applications can be submitted between April 15 and May 14, 2024, for 4,208 constable and 452 sub-inspector job openings. 

Several news platforms, such as News18, LiveMint, and Zee News, cited the purported notification as official communication from the Indian Railways to report that the authority had listed several job openings for the RPF.

Screenshot of social media and headlines of news reports sharing the fabricated circular (Source: X/ZeeNews/News18/LiveMint/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this viral notification is fake.

What is the truth?

To cross-check whether the notification in question is genuine, we searched for it on the RRB website, as all such official communications are usually published on the website. However, we came across no such notice that mentioned the same details as the viral circular.

We then looked for the serial number mentioned on the viral notification— ‘CEN no.1/2024’ and ‘CEN no. 2/2024.’ CEN refers to Centralised Employment Notice numbers, which are unique to each notification. The viral notification stated that details about the mentioned job openings would be published on the RRB website bearing the serial numbers ‘CEN no.1/2024’ and ‘CEN no. 2/2024.’ 

We then looked for notices with these unique numbers on the RRB website. We found that the ‘CEN no.1/2024 notification’ originally listed vacancies for Assistant Loco-Pilots, as seen in the image below. Notification ‘CEN no. 2/2024’ lists the tentative schedule for recruiting technicians.

Comparison between the viral notification and the original notification bearing the 'CEN no.1/2024' serial number. 
(Source: Facebook/RRB website)

An official of Indian Railways’ public relations department confirmed to Logically Facts the viral notification was fake. Cheruku Ramesh, chief public relations officer, South Central Railways (SCR), shared a press note stating that the railways ministry had not issued any communication on the recruitment of 4,208 constable and 452 sub-inspectors. The note also urged job aspirants to be aware of fraudsters.

Screenshot of the press note issued by the Indian Railways. (Source: South Central Railways)

Railway Recruitment Board also displays a notice on its website warning job aspirants not to fall for “FAKE websites put up by unscrupulous elements/touts. ” “Any information/ notices being circulated in the social media regarding RRBs may please be ignored,” the website added. 

The verdict

A fabricated circular is being shared as a recruitment notice released by the RRB for the posts of constables and sub-inspectors in the Railway Protection Force (RPF). Indian Railway officials have confirmed that no such notification was released. Hence, we mark this claim as fake.