Lok Sabha Question No. 838 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-07
Subject: Vacant Posts in Safety Categories
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Nusrat Jahan Ruhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 838 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2024

## VACANT POSTS IN SAFETY CATEGORIES

838.  MS. NUSSRAT JAHAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  number  of  vacant  positions  in  track  maintenance,  track fitness, senior and junior section engineers, gangman and technicians in the safety category;
- (b) the action taken by the Government to fill these vacancies along with  engagements with the Ministry of Finance to seek exemption from the ban on creating new positions;
- (c)  whether  these  vacancies  impact  the  overall  functioning  and safety of the railway system, if so, the measures in place to mitigate the associated risks;
- (d) whether any assessments have been conducted to evaluate the impact of these vacancies on passenger service quality; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## 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. 838 BY MS. NUSSRAT JAHAN TO BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  07.02.2024  REGARDING  VACANT POSTS IN SAFETY CATEGORIES

(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.

3,02,268 vacancies have been filled up in the last five years and up to 31st December 2023. More than 90% of the candidates recruited are in safety and operational categories.

Ministry of Finance was approached by Railways to allow creation of  posts.  Ministry of  Finance has delegated powers to Railways to create non-gazetted revenue posts of crew, as part of crew review exercise.

Indian  Railways  has  adopted  several  technological  and  modern practices in operations and maintenance areas which have resulted in the reduction of accidents as is evident from the following graph.

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The following steps have been taken by the Government to enhance safety and to prevent train accidents:

1. Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) has been introduced in 2017-18 for replacement/renewal/upgradation of critical safety assets, with a corpus of Rs. 1 lakh crore for five years. From 2017-18 till 2021-22, Gross expenditure of Rs. 1.08 lakh crore was incurred on RRSK works. In 2022-23, the Govt. extended the  currency  of  RRSK  for  another  period  of  five  years  with Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs. 45,000 crores.
2. Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems  with  centralized operation  of  points  and  signals  have  been  provided  at  6521 stations upto 31.12.2023 to eliminate accident due to human failure.
3. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 11143  level  Crossing  Gates  up  to  31.12.2023  for  enhancing safety at LC gates.
4. Complete  Track  Circuiting  of  stations  to  enhance  safety  for verification of track occupancy by electrical means has been provided at 6558 stations upto 31.12.2023.
5. Detailed instructions on issues related with safety of Signalling  e.g.  mandatory  correspondence  check,  alteration work  protocol,  preparation  of  completion  drawing,  etc.  have been issued.
6. System of disconnection and reconnection for S&T equipment as per protocol has been re-emphasized.
7. All  locomotives  are  equipped  with  Vigilance  Control  Devices (VCD) to ensure alertness of Loco Pilots.
8. Retro-reflective sigma boards are provided on the mast which is  located  two  OHE  masts  prior  to  the  signals  in  electrified territories  to  warn  the  crew  about  the  signal  ahead  when visibility is low due to foggy weather.
9. A GPS based Fog Safety Device (FSD) is provided to loco pilots in  fog  affected  areas  which  enables  loco  pilots  to  know  the distance  of  the  approaching  landmarks  like  signals,  level crossing gates etc.
10. Modern track structure consisting of 60kg, 90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) rails,  Prestressed  Concrete  Sleeper  (PSC) Normal/Wide base sleepers  with  elastic  fastening,  fanshaped layout turnout on PSC sleepers, Steel Channel/H-beam Sleepers on girder bridges is used while carrying out primary track renewals.
11. Mechanisation  of  track  laying  activity  through  use  of  track machines like PQRS, TRT, T-28 etc to reduce human errors.
12. Maximizing supply of 130m/260m long rail panels for increasing  progress  of  rail  renewal  and  avoiding  welding  of joints, thereby ensuring safety.
13. Laying of longer rails, minimizing the use of Alumino Thermic Welding and adoption of better welding technology for rails i.e. Flash Butt Welding.
14. Monitoring  of  track  geometry  by  OMS  (Oscillation  Monitoring System) and TRC (Track Recording Cars).
15. 15.
16. Patrolling of railway tracks to look out for weld/rail fractures.
16. The use of Thick Web Switches and Weldable CMS Crossing in turnout renewal works.
17. Inspections at regular intervals are carried out to monitor and educate staff for observance of safe practices.
19. Web based online monitoring system of track assets viz. Track database  and  decision  support  system  has  been  adopted  to decide  rationalized  maintenance  requirement  and  optimize
18. inputs.
19. Detailed  instructions  on  issues  related  with  safety  of  Track e.g. integrated block, corridor block, worksite safety, monsoon precautions etc. have been issued.
20. Preventive maintenance of railway assets (Coaches & Wagons) is  undertaken  to  ensure  safe  train  operations  and  to  keep  a check on Rail Accidents across the country.
21. Replacement  of  conventional  ICF  design  coaches  with  LHB design coaches is being done.
22. All  unmanned  level  crossings  (UMLCs)  on  Broad  Gauge  (BG) route have been eliminated by January 2019.
23. Safety of Railway Bridges is ensured through regular inspection of Bridges. The requirement of repair/rehabilitation of  Bridges  is  taken  up  based  upon  the  conditions  assessed during these inspections.
24. Indian  Railways  has  displayed  Statutory  'Fire  Notices'  for widespread passenger information in all coaches. Fire posters are provided in every coach  so  as  to inform and  alert passengers regarding various Do's and Don'ts to prevent fire. These include messages regarding not carrying any inflammable material, explosives, prohibition of smoking inside the coaches, penalties etc.
25. Production Units are providing Fire detection and suppression system  in  newly  manufactured  Power  Cars  and  Pantry  Cars, Fire  and  Smoke  detection  system  in  newly  manufactured coaches. Progressive fitment of the same in existing coaches is also underway by Zonal Railways in a phased manner.
26. Regular counselling and training of staff is undertaken.
27. Concept of Rolling Block introduced in Indian Railways (Open Lines) General Rules vide Gazette notification dated 30.11.2023,  wherein  work  of  maintenance/repair/replacement is  planned  up  to  52  weeks  in  advance  on  rolling  basis  and executed as per plan.

Further, to ensure enhanced passenger comfort and following measures have been adopted:

safety,

1. More  than  80%  of  the  reserved  tickets  are  booked  online through  Indian  Railway  Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation (IRCTC) website and mobile app.
2. Physical tickets can be procured through Computerized Passenger Reservation System  (PRS) counters of Indian Railways which are available all over India.
3. Authorized ticketing agents like e-ticketing agents of IRCTC, Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra (YTSK) have also been engaged for dispensing physical as well as e-tickets.
4. In  case  of  unreserved  ticketing,  various  modes  including digital have been provided to facilitate booking of unreserved tickets like UTS counters, Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVM) and UTS on Mobile app.
5. Jansadharan  Ticket  Booking  Sewaks  (JTBS),  Yatri  Ticket Suvidha Kendra (YTSK), Station Ticket Booking Agents (STBA) are also engaged for disbursing unreserved tickets.
6. To improve ticket checking process and make  it  more transparent and user friendly, Handheld Terminals (HHT) has been provided to ticket checking staff.
7. Surveillance is kept through CCTV cameras provided in 7264 coaches  in  trains  and  866  Railway  stations  for  enhanced security of passengers.
8. On vulnerable and identified routes/sections, trains are escorted  by  Railway  Protection  Force  in  addition  to  trains escorted by Government Railway Police of different states.

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