Lok Sabha Question No. 519 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Filling up of Vacancies
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Mahesh Sahoo

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 519

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2023

## FILLING UP OF VACANCIES

519.  SHRI MAHESH SAHOO:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number  of  existing  vacancies  at  different  levels  in  the Railways during the last five years;
- (b) the  number  of  persons  who  retired  from  Railways  during  the same period and the total number of positions that have been filled;
- (c) the  effect  of  not  filling  up  of  the  vacancies  with  regard  to safety and passenger services; and
- (d) the  total  number  of  vacancies  that  exists  as  of  today  in Odisha?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 519 BY SHRI MAHESH SAHOO TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 06.12.2023 REGARDING FILLING UP OF VACANCIES

(a)  to  (d)  :  Occurrence  and  filling  up  of  vacancies  is  a  continuous process on Indian Railways considering its size, spatial distribution and criticality of operation. The vacancies are filled up primarily by placement of indents by Railways with Recruitment agencies as per operational requirements.  2, 94,115 number of vacancies have been filled  up  in  the  last  five  years  and  up  to  30th  September  2023.  In East Coast Railway which majorly covers the state of Odisha, more than 3200 vacancies have been filled up in the year 2022-23.

In last 10 years, Indian Railways has adopted several technological and modern practices in operations and maintenance  areas which has  resulted  in  the  reduction  of  accidents  as  is  evident  from  the following graph:

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As  far  as  reserved  ticketing  is  concerned,  at  present,  more  than 80%  of  the  reserved  tickets  are  booked  online  through  Indian Railway  Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation  (IRCTC)  website  and mobile  app.  In  addition,  physical  tickets  can  be  procured  through Computerized  Passenger  Reservation  System  (PRS)  counters  of Indian Railways which are available all over India. Further, 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. 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. In  addition,  Jansadharan  Ticket  Booking  Sewaks  (JTBS),  Yatri Ticket  Suvidha  Kendra  (YTSK),  Station  Ticket  Booking  Agents (STBA)  are  also  engaged  for  disbursing  unreserved  tickets.  To improve ticket checking process and make it more transparent and user friendly, Handheld Terminals (HHT) has been provided to ticket checking staff. Provision of these facilities and its improvements is a continuous and an on-going process.

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