The state-owned rail network, Indian Railways has got more than 20 million applicants for about 100,000. The railway ministry official expected that the number will rise further as there is still two days until deadline for applications end on Saturday (Mar 30). The tests in 15 languages will be held online for job roles in the railway police, locomotive drivers, and technicians.

Indian Railways is on the hiring drive as unemployment becomes a huge challenge in the country, where millions are currently out of work. Officials stated that they are overwhelmed by the response to the medium and low-level posts. They found that huge number of applicants are overqualified and even PhD holders are applying for the technician jobs.

As reported by the Press Trust of India news agency, more than five million people had applied online for the positions of technicians and locomotive drivers alone.

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India’s railway networks is among the largest in the world, now used by around 23 million passengers daily. Built mostly under British colonial rule, the railway network has become the backbone of public transport in the country.

With more than a million workers across the nation, India’s railways is also one of the world’s largest employers. Besides the railway, the government recruitment drives have attracted massive responses in other parts of India as well, BBC reports.

In 2015, authorities in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, also received 2.3 million applications while there was only 368 low-level government jobs available. On the same year, several people were injured in a stampede when thousands turned up to join the Indian army in the southern city of Visakhapatnam.

In 2010, one man was killed and 11 others were injured in the crush when more than 10,000 candidates gathered to join the police recruitment in Mumbai. Meanwhile in 1999, the government in West Bengal state was overwhelmed with responses when they advertised 281 jobs and received nearly one million applications.

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