Lok Sabha Question No. 1809 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-10
Subject: Women Safety on Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri K C Venugopal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1809 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.12.2025

## WOMEN SAFETY ON TRAINS

## 1809. SHRI K C VENUGOPAL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of reported cases of crimes against women passengers on  trains  and  railway  premises  during  the  last  five  years  (20202025), State/UT-wise;
- (b) the primary issues faced by women commuters in ensuring safety on trains;
- (c) the details of the preventive measures  implemented by the Government for women's safety; and
- (d) the vacancies in the Railway Protection Force (RPF) for positions including Constables, Sub-Inspectors, Assistant Sub-Inspectors and other ranks along with the reasons for delays in filling these posts and  the  timeline  for  completing  the  ongoing  recruitment  drive  to enhance security on trains, Zone-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d): 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to  the  Constitution  of  India  and  therefore,  State  Governments are  responsible  for  prevention,  detection,  registration,  and  investigation of crime and maintenance of law and order on Railways through their law enforcement  agencies  viz.  Government  Railway  Police  (GRP)/District Police.  Railway  Protection  Force  (RPF)  supplements  the  efforts  of  GRP/ District  Police   to   provide   better   protection  and  security  to  railway

property,  passenger  area  and  passengers  and  for  matters  connected therewith.

The  details  of  cases  of  crimes  against  women  passengers  over  Indian railways are published by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) in Crime in India.

Safety  of  women  is  accorded  the  high  priority  in  Indian  Railways.  The concerns of  women  passengers  majorly  relate  to  body  related  offences against  them  and  to  prevent  any  such  crime,  following  steps  are  being taken by the Railways in coordination with GRP for safety and security of women passengers:

1. On vulnerable and identified routes/sections, trains are escorted by Railway Protection Force in addition to trains escorted by Government Railway Police personnel daily.
2. Under 'Meri Saheli' initiative, focused attention has been provided for safety  and  security  of  woman  passengers  travelling  alone  by  long distance trains for their entire journey i.e. from originating station to destination station.
3. Surveillance is kept through CCTV cameras provided in a number of coaches & Railway Stations for enhanced security of passengers.
4. For  immediate  assistance,  passengers  can  make  complaint  on  Rail Madad  Portal  directly  or  through  Helpline  Number  139  [integrated with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) No.112].
5. Railways are in regular touch with passengers through various social media platforms  like Twitter & Facebook etc. to enhance security of

- passengers and to address their security concern.
6. Frequent  announcements  are  made  through  Public  Address  System to educate passengers to take precautions against theft, snatching, drugging etc.
7. Zonal  railways have  been  instructed for  deployment  of  proper combined  strength  of  male  &  female  RPF/RPSF  personnel  in  train escort parties to the extent possible.
8. Drives  are  conducted  against  entry  of  male  passengers  into  the compartment reserved for women and legal action is taken against the offenders.
9. State  Level  Security  Committee  of  Railways  (SLSCR)  have  been constituted under the Chairmanship of Director General of Police/Commissioner  of  State  for  regular  monitoring  and  review  of security arrangements of the Railways.

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 withRecruitment agencies as per operational and technological requirements.

Presently recruitment against 1,20,579 vacancies of non-gazetted personnel has been taken up  on Indian Railways as per Annual Calendar

2024 and 2025.

During January to December 2024, ten Centralized Employment Notifications (CENs) for 92,116 vacancies were notified for filling up of posts  of  Assistant  Loco  Pilots  (ALPs),  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 (UnderGraduate), Ministerial & Isolated Categories and Level-1 categories such as Assistants, Track Maintainers and Pointsman.

First stage/Single stage Computer Based Tests (CBTs) for 59,678 posts has been completed.  Details are as under:-

| Exam                                                                                   | Candidates   |   Cities |   Languages |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| 1 st Stage CBT for the post of ALP (18,799 vacancies)                                  | 18,40,347    |      156 |          15 |
| CBT for the post of Technician (14,298 vacancies)                                      | 26,99,892    |      139 |          15 |
| 1 st Stage CBT for the post of JE/DMS/CMA (7,951 vacancies)                            | 11,01,266    |      146 |          15 |
| CBT for the post of RPF-SI (452 vacancies)                                             | 15,35,635    |      143 |          15 |
| CBT for the post of RPF-Constable (4,208 vacancies)                                    | 45,30,288    |      147 |          15 |
| CBT for Paramedical Categories (1,376                                                  | 7,08,321     |      143 |          15 |
| 1 st Stage CBT for Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate) (8,113 vacancies)       | 58,41,774    |      141 |          15 |
| 1 st Stage CBT for Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under Graduate) (3,445 vacancies) | 63,27,473    |      157 |          15 |
| CBT for Ministerial & Isolated categories (1,036 vacancies)                            | 4,46,013     |      139 |          15 |

2 nd   stage  CBTs  for  the  posts  of  ALP,  JE/DMS/CMA  and  Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate) has also been completed.  Details are as under: -

| Exam                                                                             | Candidates   |   Cities |   Languages |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| 2 nd Stage CBT for the post of ALP (18,799 vacancies)                            | 2,66,363     |      112 |          15 |
| 2 nd Stage CBT for the post of JE/DMS/CMA (7,951 vacancies)                      | 1,17,339     |      118 |          15 |
| 2 nd Stage CBT for Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate) (8,113 vacancies) | 1,21,931     |      129 |          15 |

Computer Based Aptitude Test (CBAT) for the post of ALP has also been completed. Details are as under:-

| Exam                                        | Candidates   |   Cities |   Languages |
|---------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| CBAT for the post of ALP (18,799 vacancies) | 1,32,044     |       84 |           2 |

CBT for 32,438 vacancies for level -1 categories has commenced from 27.11.2025 in 140 cities in 15 languages. Physical efficiency Test (PET) for 4,208 vacancies of Constable (RPF) has commenced from 13.11.2025.

Panels for more than 23,000 candidates or various posts including the posts  of  Technicians,  Junior  Engineers,  Paramedical  Categories,  SubInspectors (RPF) and Assistant Loco Pilots have been finalised.  Majority of them are in safety categories.

In addition, as per Annual Calendar for the year 2025, seven Centralized Employment  Notifications (CENs) for 28,463 vacancies  have  also  been

issued. Details are as under:-

|   S. No. | CEN No.   | Post Name                                        | No. of Vacancies notified   | Month of Notification   |
|----------|-----------|--------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------|
|        1 | 01/2025   | Assistant Loco Pilots                            | 9,970                       | March 2025              |
|        2 | 02/2025   | Technicians                                      | 6,238                       | June 2025               |
|        3 | 03/2025   | Para-Medical Categories                          | 434                         | July 2025               |
|        4 | 04/2025   | Section Controllers                              | 368                         | August 2025             |
|        5 | 05/2025   | Junior Engineers / Depot Material Superintendent | 2,585                       | October 2025            |
|        6 | 06/2025   | NTPC (Graduate)                                  | 5,810                       | October 2025            |
|        7 | 07/2025   | NTPC (Under-Graduate)                            | 3,058                       | October 2025            |

The RRB examinations are quite technical in nature entailing large scale mobilization  of  men  and  resources  and  training  of  manpower.  Railway overcame all these challenges and successfully conducted the recruitment in a transparent manner following all laid down guidelines. No instance of paper leakage or similar malpractice has occurred during the entire process.

Recruitment done in Indian Railways during 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 visà-vis during 2014-2015 to 2024-2025 is given as under:-

| Period                 | Recruitments*   |
|------------------------|-----------------|
| 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 | 4.11 lakh       |
| 2014-2015 to 2024-2025 | 5.08 lakh       |

Further, as system improvement, the Ministry of Railways has introduced  a  system  of  publishing  the  annual  calendar  from  2024  for recruitment to various categories of Group 'C' posts. The introduction of the annual calendar is benefitting 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

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