Lok Sabha Question No. 241 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-10
Subject: Railway Workforce
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, Shrikant Eknath Shinde

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.241 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.07.2019

## RAILWAY WORKFORCE

## *241.  SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

## Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  workforce  of  Indian  Railways  has  decreased  over  the years and good services in the absence of required employees cannot be  expected,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  reaction  of  the Government thereto;
- (b) the number of vacancies of Group A, B, C and D that are lying vacant in Railways, category and zone-wise;
- (c) the time by which the process of filling up of the vacant posts is likely to  be  completed  along  with  the  steps  taken  by  the  Railways  to manage its operations in an efficient manner;
- (d) the  number  of  Railway  employees  who  retired  and    the  number  of newly recruited employees during the last three years and the current year  along  with  the  number  of  job  opportunities  generated  over  the last  decade  and  the  reasons  for  not  filling  up  the  vacant  posts  of different categories; and
- (e) whether there is any specific plan for hiring employees from economically backward areas like Bundelkhad and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 241 BY SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT AND  DR.  SHRIKANT  EKNATH  SHINDE  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 10.07.2019 REAGRDING RAILWAY WORKFORCE

- (a) Output and quality of  service  depends  not  only  on  workforce but  also  on  the  extent  of  use  of  technology  and  automation  of systems.    Therefore,  it  is  not  correct  to  correlate  the  quality  of service with employee strength. Process of retirement of employees is a continuous one. This leads to creation of vacancies continuously. These posts are filled by promotions and new recruitment, which is a continuous  and  ongoing  process.  Therefore,  at  any  point  of  time, there  are  vacancies  on  account  of  this.  Further,  cadre  strength  is decided  considering  factors  like  Leave  Reserves,  Trainee  Reserves etc. The number of employees were 16,54,985 in 1991 and 12,48,101 in  2019.  However,  this  has  not  affected  the  service  of  Railways. Based  on  requirement  of  Railways,  vacancies  are  filled  periodically through  transparent  process  through  Railway  Recruitment  Boards (RRBs) and Railway Recruitment Cells (RRCs).
- (b) The  details  of  vacancies  of  Group  A,  B,  C  and  erstwhile Group  D  in  Railways,  category-wise  and  Zone-wise  is  appended  as Appendix-I.
- (c) In 2018, process for recruitment of 77,858 Group 'C' and 63,202 Group 'D' employees was started. In addition process for recruitment of  10,783  RPF  personnel  was  also  started.  This  process  is  in  final stage  now  and  is  likely  to  be  completed  by  August  2019.  In  2019, another cycle of recruitment of 38,808 Group'C' and 1,03,769 Group'D'

employees has been initiated. This includes 10% quota for Economically  Weaker  Section  (EWS)  along-with  quotas  for  other constitutional reservations. These are largest cycles of recruitment in terms of number of vacancies so far. The detailed position regarding filling  up  of  vacancies  is  appended  as  Appendix-II.  Operations  are being managed satisfactorily since sanctioned cadre strength includes an element of Leave and Trainee Reserves.

- (d) Details of employees who have retired and recruited in the last three  years  is  appended  as  Appendix-III.      1,98,772  (Group  C)    and 2,62,244 (Group D) candidates have been recruited in Railways over the last decade. Filling up of vacancies is a continuous process.
- (e) Equal chance is given to candidates of all areas to apply to any RRC/RRB throughout the country in response to the advertisements. As per recent policy of the Government of India, additional provision for  Economically  Weaker  Sections  (EWSs)  has  been  made  in  the indents processed after announcement of the policy.

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APPENDIX-I  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  241  BY  SHRI  GIRISH  BHALCHANDRA  BAPAT  AND DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.07.2019 REGARDING RAILWAY WORKFORCE

(b) The details of vacancies of Group A, B, C and erstwhile Group D in Railways, category-wise and Zone-wise, as on 01.06.2019, are as under:-

| S.No.   | Zonal Railway      | Gazetted (A & B)   | Non Gazetted (C & erstwhile D)   |
|---------|--------------------|--------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1.      | Central            | 120                | 25,103                           |
| 2.      | Eastern            | 218                | 23,961                           |
| 3.      | Northern           | 148                | 40,611                           |
| 4.      | North Eastern      | 30                 | 14,329                           |
| 5.      | Northeast Frontier | 169                | 15,740                           |
| 6.      | Southern           | 139                | 20,562                           |
| 7.      | South Central      | 78                 | 18,762                           |
| 8.      | South Eastern      | 143                | 17,738                           |
| 9.      | Western            | 147                | 24,987                           |
| 10.     | METRO              | 19                 | 925                              |
| 11.     | East Central       | 186                | 18,595                           |
| 12.     | East Coast         | 101                | 9,582                            |
| 13.     | North Central      | 156                | 20,505                           |
| 14.     | North Western      | 144                | 17,655                           |
| 15.     | South Western      | 69                 | 7,354                            |
| 16.     | West Central       | 101                | 12,524                           |
| 17.     | South East Central | 139                | 9,641                            |
|         | Total              | 2,107              | 2,98,574                         |

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APPENDIX-II  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  241  BY  SHRI  GIRISH  BHALCHANDRA  BAPAT  AND DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.07.2019 REGARDING RAILWAY WORKFORCE

- (c) Occurrence  and  filling  up  of  vacancies  is  a  continuous process and the same is filled by timely placement of indents with recruitment agencies as per operational requirements.
- (i)  Gazetted:  Indent  for  440  Gazetted  vacancies  have  been placed  on  UPSC  for  Engineering  Services  Examination  and  Civil Services  Examination  for  the  recruitment  year  2019.  Recruitment against  Gazetted  posts  take  place  as  per  calendar  of  UPSC. Number  of  candidates  who  have  been  empanelled  in  the  last  03 years is given below.
- (ii)  Non-Gazetted:  Railway  Recruitment  Boards  (RRBs)  are regularly  providing  panels  of  successful  candidates  to  Railway  / Production Units concerned. The position of candidates empanelled,  under  Direct  Recruitment  (DR)  Quota,  for  various Group 'C' and erstwhile Group 'D' posts on Indian Railways by RRBs and RRCs during the last 03 years is as follows:-

| Year(s)           |         | Last 03 Years   | Last 03 Years   | Last 03 Years   | TOTAL    |
|-------------------|---------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------|
| Year(s)           |         | 2015-16         | 2016-17         | 2017-18         |          |
|                   | Group A | 297             | 325             | 364*            | 986      |
| No. of candidates | Group C | 27995           | 19587           | 19100           | 66,682   |
| empanelled        | Group D | 51808           | 6731            | 5632            | 64,171   |
|                   | Total   | 80100           | 26643           | 25096           | 1,31,839 |

(iii) Action under  process: In 2018-19,  action  has  been initiated  to  fill  up  2,94,420  vacancies.  Examination  have  been held  for  1,51,843  posts  and  will  be  held  for  1,42,577  posts  in 2019-20, for which employment notification were issued in 2019, duly  taking  the  Economically  Weaker Section  (EWS)  quota into account.

(A)

Notified in 2017-18: 1,51,843

(B) Notified in 2019: 1,42,577

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APPENDIX-III  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (d)  OF  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  241  BY  SHRI  GIRISH  BHALCHANDRA  BAPAT  AND DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.07.2019 REGARDING RAILWAY WORKFORCE

## (d) Details  of  employees  retired  and  recruited  in  the  previous years are as under:-

| Year (as on 31 st March)   | No. of Employees retired   | No. of persons recruited   |
|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| 2015-16                    | 53,654                     | 80,100                     |
| 2016-17                    | 59,053                     | 26,643                     |
| 2017-18                    | 52,982                     | 25,096                     |
| Total                      | 1,65,689                   | 1,31,839                   |

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