Lok Sabha Question No. 476 (STARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: Mass Voluntary Retirement Applications by Central Railway Loco Pilots
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 476 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026

## MASS VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT APPLICATIONS BY CENTRAL RAILWAY LOCO PILOTS

- *476. SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  some  Loco  Pilots  (Mail)  from  the  Mumbai Division of Central Railway have recently submitted a joint application for voluntary retirement from service and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether the  Government is aware of the specific grievances cited by these pilots, including unbearable mental and physical stress, administrative harassment and an insensitive working environment and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  there  have  been  reports  of sub-standard  food, lack of cleanliness and a dearth of basic amenities in the lobbies, trip sheds and  running  rooms  provided  to  these  personnel  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (d)  whether the lack of adequate rest and deteriorating work-life balance among  Loco  Pilots  is  impacting  railway  safety  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (e)  the  reasons  for  previous  oral  and  written  representations  to  senior officials failing to address these issues, leading to this mass resignation move; and
- (f) whether the Government has initiated to resolve their grievances and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  STARRED QUESTION NO.476 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026 IN LOK SABHA

(a) to (f) : Loco Pilots are important members of Indian Railway family who play  pivotal  role  for  moving  passenger  and  goods  traffic  in  safe  and efficient  manner.  Indian  Railways  is  committed  to  ensure  proper  working conditions for loco pilots.

The details of filling up vacancies of Assistant Loco Pilots are as follows:

|   Year | Details regarding recruitment for the post of Assistant Loco Pilots                                             |
|--------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   2024 | 18,799 vacancies were notified. Selection process already completed and 15,873 candidates empanelled till date. |
|   2025 | 9,970 vacancies were notified; First stage Computer Based Tests (CBTs) have been completed.                     |
|   2026 | 11,127 vacancies have been notified.                                                                            |

Recruitment  done  in  Indian  Railways  during  2004-05  to  2013-14  vis-à-vis during 2014-15 to 2025-26 is given as under: -

| Period                 | Recruitments   |
|------------------------|----------------|
| 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 | 4.11 lakh      |
| 2014-2015 to 2024-2025 | 5.08 lakh      |
| 2025-26 - till date    | 43,230         |

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.

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.

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

Presently, recruitment against 1,54,213 vacancies of nongazetted personnel has been taken up on Indian Railways as per Annual Calendar 2024, 2025 and 2026.

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 (Under-Graduate), Ministerial &  Isolated  Categories  and  Level-1  categories  such  as  Assistants,  Track Maintainers and Pointsman.

First  Stage/Single  stage  Computer  Based  Tests  (CBTs)  for 92,116  posts have been completed.  Details are as under: -

| Exam                                                                                  | Candidates   | Cities   | Languages   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| 1st 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          |
| 1st 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 vacancies)                                      | 7,08,321     | 143      | 15          |
| 1st Stage CBT for Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate) (8,113 vacancies)       | 58,41,774    | 141      | 15          |
| 1st 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          |
| CBT for level-1 posts (32438 vacancies)                                               | 1,08,28,261  | 152      | 15          |
| Total Candidates                                                                      | 3,58,59,270  |          |             |

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

| Exam                                                                                  | Candidates   | Cities   | Languages   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| 2nd Stage CBT for the post of ALP (18,799 vacancies)                                  | 2,66,363     | 112      | 15          |
| 2nd Stage CBT for the post of JE/DMS/CMA (7,951 vacancies)                            | 1,17,339     | 118      | 15          |
| 2nd Stage CBT for Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate) (8,113 vacancies)       | 1,21,931     | 129      | 15          |
| 2nd Stage CBT for Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under-Graduate) (3,445 vacancies) | 51,978       | 79       | 15          |
| Total Candidates                                                                      | 5,57,611     |          |             |

Computer  Based  Aptitude  Test  (CBAT)  for  the  post  of  ALP  and NonTechnical Popular Categories (Graduate) and Computer based Skill Test for the post of Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate and Under Graduate) and Ministerial & Isolated Categories have also been completed. Details are as under:

| Exam                                                                                                              | Candidates   | Cities   | Languages   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| CBAT for the post of ALP                                                                                          | 1,32,044     | 84       | 2           |
| Translation Test for Ministerial and Isolated Categories                                                          | 1,233        | 8        | 2           |
| CBAT for the post of Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate)                                                  | 13,616       | 38       | 2           |
| Computer Based Typing Skill Test (CBTST) for the post of Non-Technical                                            | 30,341       | 58       | 2           |
| Computer Based Typing Skill Test (CBTST) for the post of Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under-Graduate- level) | 13,145       | 44       | 2           |
| Total Candidates                                                                                                  | 1,90,379     |          |             |

Panels  for  more  than 42,000  candidates  for  various  posts  including  the posts  of  Technicians,  Junior  Engineers,  Paramedical  Categories,  SubInspectors & Constable (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, nine Centralized Employment  Notifications  (CENs)  for 50,970  vacancies  have also  been issued. Details are as under:

| CEN No.   | Post Name                                                                              | No. of Vacancies notified   | Month of Notification   |
|-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------|
| 01/2025   | Assistant Loco Pilots                                                                  | 9,970                       | March 2025              |
| 02/2025   | Technician                                                                             | 6,238                       | June 2025               |
| 03/2025   | Paramedical categories                                                                 | 434                         | July 2025               |
| 04/2025   | Section Controller                                                                     | 368                         | August 2025             |
| 05/2025   | Junior Engineer (JE)/ Depot Material Superintendent/Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant | 2,585                       | October 2025            |
| 06/2025   | Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate)                                            | 5,810                       | October 2025            |
| 07/2025   | Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under-Graduate)                                      | 3,058                       | October 2025            |
| 08/2025   | Isolated Categories                                                                    | 312                         | December 2025           |
| 09/2025   | Level-1 posts                                                                          | 22,195                      | December 2025           |
| Total     | Total                                                                                  | 50,970                      |                         |

First  stage/Single  stage  Computer  Based  Tests  (CBTs)  for 19,595 posts have been completed.  Details are as under: -

| Exam                                                       | Candidates   | Cities   | Languages   |
|------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| 1st Stage CBT for the post of ALP (9970 vacancies)         | 10,03,719    | 141      | 15          |
| CBT for the post of Section Controller (368 vacancies)     | 4,33,748     | 131      | 15          |
| 1st Stage CBT for the post of JE/DMS/CMA (2585 vacancies)  | 5,74,351     | 133      | 15          |
| CBT for the post of Technician (6238 vacancies)            | 8,41,525     | 117      | 15          |
| CBT for the post of Paramedical Categories (434 vacancies) | 3,19,396     | 106      | 15          |
| Total Candidates                                           | 31,72,739    |          |             |

11,127 vacancies of Assistant Loco Pilots have been notified in March 2026 for the year 2026.

Further, grievances / representations received from employees are examined and necessary action to address the issues is promptly taken. Complaints  received  from  Loco  Pilots  are  examined  on  regular  basis  to resolve the issues and feedback given to the Loco Pilots.

Recently rates of Kilometreage Allowance (KMA) and Allowance in lieu of Kilometreage (ALK) for running staff have been enhanced with effect from 01.01.2024 consequent upon Dearness Allowance reaching 50%.

Duty  hours  of Loco  Pilots  are  governed  by  Hours  of  Employment  Rules (HOER)  according  to  which  loco  running  staff  are  required  to  work  104 hours  in  a  fortnight.  The running  hours  of  Loco  Pilots  are  meticulously monitored. The running hours are maintained, except for exigencies.

The quality and hygiene of food being provided and other amenities in the running Rooms are ensured by regular inspection at senior level.

For improvement of working conditions and to ensure adequate quality rest to loco running staff, several measures have been taken such as:

-  All running rooms have been air-conditioned.
-  Running  staff  are  provided  with  Yoga  and  meditation  room, reading  room  with  newspaper  and  magazines  for  relaxing  in accordance with their requirements.
-  Provision for good quality subsidized meals in running rooms.
-  Availability of RO water filters in running rooms.
-  Special drives are launched regularly to counsel running staff to boost their morale and confidence.

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