Lok Sabha Question No. 1736 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-13
Subject: Gap between Sanctioned and Existing Posts
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Pritam Gopinath Munde, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Chandra Sekhar Sahu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1736

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2023

## GAP BETWEEN SANCTIONED AND EXISTING POSTS

1736. DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE: SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB: SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE: SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is a huge gap against sanctioned and existing posts  of  track  maintenance,  track  fitness,  senior  and  junior section  engineer,  gangmen  and  technicians  in  the  safety category in the Indian Railways;
- (b) if so, the number of vacant positions in these posts, zone-wise;
- (c) whether Railways has reviewed the various sanctioned posts in  the  safety  category  particularly  when  traffic  of  Indian Railways has increased;
- (d) if so, the details thereof particularly the year in which previous review was conducted along with the volume of Indian Railway traffic at the time of such review and comparison with present position; and
- (e) the details of the measures taken to address these vacancies and engagements  with  the Ministry of Finance to seek exemption from the ban on creating new positions?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(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 UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  1736  BY  DR.  PRITAM  GOPINATHRAO MUNDE,  SHRI  BHARTRUHARI  MAHTAB,  SHRI  RAHUL  RAMESH SHEWALE AND SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 13.12.2023 REGARDING GAP BETWEEN SANCTIONED AND EXISTING POSTS (a)  to  (e)  :  Occurrence  and  filling  up  of  vacancies  is  a  continuous process on Indian Railways considering its size, spatial distribution and  criticality  of  operation.  Adequate  and  suitable  manpower  is provided to cater to the regular operations, changes in technology, mechanisations and innovative  practices. The vacancies are filled up primarily by placement of indents by Railways with Recruitment agencies as per operational and technological requirements. Two major competitive Computer Based Tests (CBT) involving more than 2.37 crore candidates have been conducted recently for filling up of 1.39 lakh vacancies for non-gazetted posts. 1st Stage CBT for CEN  01/2019  (NTPC)  for  more  than  1.26  crore  candidates  was conducted in 7 phases from 28.12.2020 to 31.07.2021 in 133 shifts in  68  days  across  211  cities  and  726  centres  in  15  languages. Similarly,  CBT  for  CEN  RRC  01/2019  (Level  1)  was  conducted  for more  than  1.11  crore  candidates  in  5  phases  from  17.08.2022  to 11.10.2022 in 99 shifts in 33 days across 191 cities and 551 centres in 15 languages. 2,94,115 vacancies have been filled up in the last five years and up to 30th September 2023. More than 90% of the candidates recruited are in safety and operational categories.

Periodical  review  of  Running  Staff  is  done  through  crew  review exercises by Zonal Railways as per delegations of power. This crew review  is  done  on  annual/six  monthly  basis  by  Zonal  Railways, which means virtually every year crew review is done. During the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24 (upto Sep 23), 4,89,696 no. of candidates have been recruited by the Railway Recruitment agencies  against  various  group  C  posts  (including  level-1  and security related posts).

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