Jasvinder Sidhu
New Delhi: Modi government in the centre promised Bullet train and its dream project for the government. But how this dream going to be realty, only future will tell as the current financial health of the world’s largest rail network seems to be on a ventilator. Conditions are such even Indian railway barred not only jobs but the purchase of a printer also.
According to an order, Railways will also review re-engaging the staff and evaluate the feasibility of trimming down the workforce. Railways have already implemented reduction of overtime pay and travel allowances of employees by a massive 50 percent.
One of the instruction in the order reads, “Redeployment should be done the ensure utilization of the existing manpower for multitasking.”
Interestingly, this order barred everyone from buying new furniture, computers and even printers to bring down expenditure.
Indian Railways has claimed that it will speed up the process for conducting examinations for Non-Technical Popular Category (NTPC – Graduate & under-graduate level) posts. According to a June 6 press release, a strategy has been formalised to conduct examinations for 1.25 crore applicants for NTPC. But an internal order on June 19, as reported, seems to suggest that Railway has frozen new job creation, except for safety-related posts.
Manjula Rangarajan, general managers, financial commissioners, in her June 23 order, tilted, Strategy/Action Plan For Controlling Expenditures and Enhancing Earning to general managers and financial commissioners, has directed managers to review posts created in the past two years. “If the recruitments have not been done against those posts, the same may be reviewed for surrendering,” Rangarajan wrote.
But the government channels have denied the development. “News about freezing is absolutely incorrect information, I can say it on record,” DJ Narain, ADG (Media & Communication) Northern Region (PIB), told this writer.
The Railways believe that some people are spreading misinformation and rumours on social media about the recruitment freeze. Earnings of the Indian Railways through passenger traffic have dropped by a massive 50 percent by May end due to COVID and lockdown and is predicted to drop further.
With a workforce of 14 lakh, the Indian Railways is the largest employer in India and eighth largest in the world. Besides, it generates a large number of informal jobs downstream.
The Railway Ministry has claimed that it successfully concluded recruitment of Assistant Loco Pilots (ALPs) and Technicians for which 47.45 lakh candidates registered for over 64,000 posts.
The Requirement Panel approved 56,378 candidates out of the 64,371 vacancies and appointment letters have been issued to 40,420 candidates so far.
Training of the newly-recruited 19,120 candidates (10,123 Assistant Loco Pilots (ALPs) and 8,997 Technicians) will resume as soon as the COVID lockdown related measures eased. Rest of the offers will be issued in a phased manner after the training of batches is completed.
