The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation on Thursday said a human resource manager who posted an advertisement asking for applications from persons of certain castes only had been fired from his post, PTI reported.

Delhi-based RK Associates, a caterer for Indian Railways, had posted an advertisement seeking applications from persons of the “Agrawal Vaish community” only, the Hindustan Times reported. The advertisement added that the candidates should be men, and have a “good family background”. The advertisement sought 100 individuals for three posts – train catering manager, base kitchen manager and store manager.

The IRCTC took a serious view of the matter on Thursday. “Serious view is taken by the IRCTC and the contractor has been asked to refrain from giving notice on caste lines and recruit eligible candidates,” the railways authority said in a statement.

“The contractor has confirmed that the HR manager responsible for the advertisement has been removed from his post,” a railway official told PTI.

Brandavan Food Products, the firm which controls RK Associates, issued a statement apologising for the matter, and called it a “clerical mistake”.

“Two different advertisements were supposed to be placed – one for recruitment of staff in trains and restaurant and another for our social welfare programme,” the company said. “Due to clerical mistake this advertisement has been placed publicly...our objective was not to hurt anyone and to offer jobs to any specific community.”

Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.