Lok Sabha Question No. 2933 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-17
Subject: Skill Development of Railway Employees
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. C M Ramesh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2933 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025

## SKILL DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES

## 2933.   DR. C M RAMESH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  formulated  any  scheme  for  skill development  and  re-skilling  of  railway  personnel  in  emerging technologies such as high-speed train operations, Al-based maintenance  and  logistics  management  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (b) the details of the measures being taken to ensure that contractual employment  in  railway  projects  adheres  to  labour  and  safety norms; and
- (c) whether the Government proposes to link railway modernisation with local industry participation and MSME engagement to boost regional employment and economic activity and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c) : Indian Railways have a comprehensive training ecosystem, which provides different sets of training interventions at various stages of  career  to  ensure  skilling,  re-skilling  and  up-skilling  of  Railway Employees. To  make  this  possible,  elaborate  infrastructure  has  been developed  by  the  Indian  Railways  in  form  of  training  centres  across

Zonal  Railways  and  Production  Units.    Within  a  Zone  also,  training centres  are  spread  out  across  different  locations  of  Divisions  or Workshops.

Railway  Training  Institutes  have  developed  in-house  capabilities  to design  and  deliver  training  programs  on  various  newly  adopted  rail technologies  on  railways  such  as  Kavach  etc.  Detailed  training modules have  been  prepared  for  relevant  categories  and  clubbed  at initial, refresher and promotional stages, laying emphasis on practical aspects  which  help  them  in  assimilation  with  related  advanced technology, keeping a focus on overall safety and passenger experience. Further, all training modules are reviewed and updated at regular intervals  to  keep pace with  technological advancements and changes in working practices.

Advanced and modern training  practices  like  simulator training  have been adopted to enhance railway personnel's preparedness in emergency handling, improve decision-making capabilities, and provides opportunities for continual learning and performance improvement.

Indian  Railways  has  also  embraced  modern  e-learning  techniques through  the  iGOT  Karmayogi  Platform,  which  hosts  a  wide  range  of online  learning  modules  aimed  at  continuous  capacity  building  of government  officials,  including  railway  personnel.  These  modules cover  emerging  and  domain-specific  technologies  such  as  Kavach, High-Speed Rail, Artificial Intelligence applications, logistics management  and  several  other  areas  critical  to  railway  operations. The  platform  provides  flexible,  on-demand  access  on  an  anytime, anywhere basis, thereby strengthening the learning ecosystem, enhancing  digital  skilling,  and  promoting  a  culture  of  continuous professional development across the organisation.

In High Speed  Rail Systems, railway personnels including from National  High  Speed  Rail  Corporation  Limited  (NHSRCL)  are  being imparted  specialised  training  including  training  abroad  in  various aspects of operations, maintenance and safety.

To  further  integrate  the  uses  of  Artificial  Intelligence  and  Machine Learning (AI and ML) in day-to-day railway operations, Indian Railways Institute of Signalling and Telecommunication (IRISET), Secunderabad have collaborated with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) for conducting short-duration training  courses on AI and ML.

Adequate  safeguards  have  been  taken  to  ensure  that  the  labours engaged  by  the  contractors  for  executing  various  railway  projects engaged by Indian Railways for various projects need to comply with the various provisions including labour and safety norms contained in General Conditions of Contracts (GCC). The same includes compliances to labour norms like Provisions of Payment of Wages Act, Provisions of Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,  Provisions  of  Workmen's  Compensation  Act,  Provision  of  Mines Act  etc.  The  contracts  also  needs  to  conform  to  all  laws,  bye-laws rules and  regulations for the time being in force pertaining to employment  of  local  or  imported  labour  and  take  all  necessary precautions to ensure and preserve the health and safety of all staff employed directly or through petty contractors or sub-contractors on the works.

Indian  Railways  is  making  significant  investments  to  enhance  its infrastructure  and  services  on  network  capacity  expansion,  new rolling  stock, and safety improvements for which, a number of large, medium  and small projects have been undertaken. To provide workforce  with  specialized  and  diverse  set  of  skills  for  execution  of projects, Railway Centralised Training Institutes (CTIs) have collaborated  with  their  nearby  ITIs  to  introduce  railway  domained learning  modules  as  part  of  their  existing  courses  of  the  relevant trades. The  scope  of collaboration include hand-holding ITIs in curriculum development, Training of Teachers (TOT) program for ITIs faculty, Faculty support, Lab Support and Field Visits for Students etc. to enhance the visibility of the initiative and enhance employability of beneficiary students.

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