September 23: The recruitment of railway staff for the newly established Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway is likely to be delayed due to COVID-19.  It has been informed that Department of Railways will not appoint railway staff for the 34-kilometer Janakpur-Jayanagar railway immediately.

Since the operation of the train along Janakpur-Jayanagar is uncertain due to the coronavirus pandemic, authorities believe that the cost of hiring staff in such a situation may accelerate the expenditure of the railway.

However, the Nepal Railway Company will continue the process of recruiting technical and administrative staff for the operation of the train. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the government-owned company was not prepared to hire staff due to the uncertainty in the operation of the train amid COVID-19 crisis.

"The process of appointing the railway staff has been started. Notice has been issued for the appointment of 129 employees on contract basis. The process of hiring staff including train drivers and controllers from India has also been initiated, but there won’t be any appointment for the time being,” Bhattarai informed.

He added that the recruitment and training of the railway staff will be started soon after the containment of the virus. The government had appointed Bhattarai as the general manager of the Nepal Railway Company, which has its head office in Janakpur, only two months ago.