Lok Sabha Question No. 5179 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-02
Subject: Vacancies in Railways Particularly in Chhattisgarh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Brijmohan Agrawal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5179

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2025

## VACANCIES IN RAILWAYS PARTICULARLY IN CHHATTISGARH

†5179. SHRI BRIJMOHAN AGRAWAL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the present status of vacancies in Indian Railways, particularly in Chhattisgarh and the timelines for filling up the said vacancies; and
- (b)  whether  any special  training  centre  or  institute  is  proposed  to set up in Chhattisgarh for the special training programme for new recruits to enhance their technical proficiency before deployment?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  &  (b):  Occurrence  and  filling  up  of  vacancies  are  continuous processes 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.

After  easing  of  restrictions  imposed  on  account  of  COVID  19,  two major examinations involving more than 2.37 crore candidates have been conducted successfully.

| Exam    | Candidates   |   Cities |   Centres |   Days |   Shifts |
|---------|--------------|----------|-----------|--------|----------|
| L2 - L6 | 1.26 cr      |      211 |       726 |     68 |      133 |
| L1      | 1.1 cr       |      191 |       551 |     33 |       99 |

Based on these exams, 1,30,581 candidates have been recruited in Railways.

Recruitment done in Indian Railways during 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 vis-à-vis during 2014-2015 to 2023-2024 is given as under: -

| Period                 | Recruitments   |
|------------------------|----------------|
| 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 | 4.11 lakhs     |
| 2014-2015 to 2023-2024 | 5.02 lakhs     |

Further,  as  a  system  improvement,  the  Ministry  of  Railways  has introduced  a  system  of  publishing  annual  calendar  from  2024  for recruitment to various categories of Group 'C' posts. The introduction  of  annual  calendar  will  benefit  the  aspirants  in  the following manner:

-        More opportunities for candidates;
-        Opportunities to those becoming eligible every year;
-        Certainty of exams;
-        Faster Recruitment process, Training and Appointments

Accordingly,  ten  Centralized  Employment  Notifications  (CENs)  for 92,116  vacancies have been notified during January to December 2024  for  filling  up  of  posts  of  Assistant  Loco  Pilots,  Technicians, Sub-Inspectors, Constables  in Railway  Protection Force (RPF), Junior Engineers (JEs)/ Depot Material Superintendent (DMS)/ Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant (CMA), Paramedical Categories, Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate), Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under-Graduate), Ministerial & Isolated Categories and Level-1 posts.

First  stage  Computer  Based  Tests  for  45,708  posts has  been completed  in  two phases  from  25.11.2024  to  30.12.2024  and 02.03.2025 to 18.03.2025. Details are as under: -

| Exam                                              | Candidates   |   Cities |   Centres |   Days |   Shifts |
|---------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-----------|--------|----------|
| ALP CEN No. 01/2024 (18,799 vacancies)            | 18,40,347    |      156 |       346 |      5 |       15 |
| Technician CEN No. 02/2024 (14,298 vacancies)     | 26,99,892    |      139 |       312 |      9 |       27 |
| JE/DMS/CMA CEN No. 03/2024 (7,951 vacancies)      | 11,01,266    |      146 |       323 |      3 |        9 |
| RPF (SI) CEN No. 01/2024 (452 vacancies)          | 15,35,635    |      143 |       306 |      5 |       15 |
| RPF (Constable) CEN No. 02/2024 (4,208 vacancies) | 45,30,288    |      149 |       354 |     12 |       36 |

Railways, being a Central Government organization conduct recruitment  on  all  India  basis.  This  is  in  line  with  Constitutional provision of right to equality in matters of public employment and as per the guidelines of DOPT, the nodal department of Government of

India  in  such  matters.  Every  candidate  irrespective  of  gender, language, place of birth/region etc. fulfilling eligibility criteria is free to apply. All those who apply in response to Centralised Employment Notifications (CENs), including local candidates are considered for recruitment  on  the  Railways,  on  equal  footing.  No  preference  is given  to  candidates  belonging  to  any  State  or  Region  nor  is  the recruitment restricted to any State or Region.

As safe train operation is the top most priority of Indian Railways, special emphasis is laid on training of employees. Detailed training modules as per the prescribed periodicity  are  available  for  respective  categories  at  initial  and promotional stages along with refresher courses as well as specialized training courses, laying emphasis on practical aspects which help them in skill upgradation and assimilation with related advanced technology, keeping a focus on overall safety and passenger experience. These modules are also updated keeping in view the technological changes in working practice.

Initial  Training  is  imparted  to  the  new  entrants/recruits  for  the purpose of introducing them with various facets of Railway operations and management. Department wise Training Modules has been developed in consultation with concerned technical directorates for each category of staff.

Besides, the following training programmes are also conducted for Railway Staff at various stages of their career:

- Promotional  Training  -  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  serving staff in advance for jobs of higher responsibilities.
- Refresher Training - for the purpose of refreshing the serving employees  periodically with new  ideas  and  principles for improving efficiency in their jobs.
- Specialized Training -for the purpose of updating the knowledge of technological developments, quantitative techniques, etc. e.g. PRS, new locomotives, signalling system, Track Technology etc.

Besides these training, some other / special courses are also run by the Training Institutes i.e. Training for Frontline Staff in Soft Skills, Customer  Care  Training,  Disaster  Management  Training,  Accident Investigation Programme  for all Supervisors, Investigation for derailment for JE/SSE (P.Way), Train Parting Programme for Drivers, Threat Perception and Emergency Response, Fire Fighting and First Aid  Skills, Gender  sensitization,  Yoga  and  Meditation  and  other training etc.

Indian  Railways  have  a  comprehensive  training  ecosystem,  for which  elaborate  infrastructure  has  been  developed  in  form  of training centres across Zonal Railways and Production Units. Within a Zone also, these training centres are spread out across different locations of Divisions or Workshops.

Chhattisgarh  is  covered  by  South  East  Central  Railway  and  East Coast Railway. There is already a Zonal Railway Training Institute functioning at Bilaspur which caters to the training needs of railway employees  posted  in  South  East  Central  Railway.  The  following railway training institutes are also located in Chhattisgarh:

- (a) Multi Disciplinary Divisional Training Institute, Raipur
- (b) Staff Training Centre, Bhilai
- (c) Engineering Training Centre, Bilaspur
- (d) Electric Loco Training Centre, Uslapur, Bilaspur
- (e) Divisional Loco Training Centre, Bilaspur
- (f) Basic Training Institute, Raipur

These training centres are capable to cater to the current training needs of railway staff. Nevertheless, rationalisation and reorganisation of training centres as per requirement is an ongoing process.

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