The Railways is going ahead with its plan to recruit retired employees to technical categories on a contract basis . Employees’ unions had strongly objected to the decision.
A couple of days ago, the Railway Board issued orders authorising zonal General Managers across the country to fill posts of Senior Section Engineers and Junior Engineers by employing retired officials to overcome the shortage of manpower in the construction wing of the Engineering department.
Where retired employees are not available, candidates fulfilling the eligibility criteria prescribed for direct recruitment could be employed on a contract basis with fixed remuneration in tune with the 7th Pay Commission. The contract engagements would be made against clear vacancies for a maximum period of one year or availability of a regularly selected candidate, whichever is earlier.
Experimental basis
With the Ministry of Railways announcing a huge recruitment drive to fill at least 50% of the 1.5 lakh vacancies in the safety category alone, the scheme to engage retired employees and others on contract would be on an experimental basis for two years.
The selection of candidates for contract jobs would be made through newspaper advertisements and there would be due representation for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes categories. They would be given training/orientation in rules, regulations and practices related to safety, technical and other areas before being deployed on work.
The initial monthly remuneration for Senior Technical Associate and Junior Technical Associate would be ₹37,000 and ₹30,000 respectively depending on the class of city. They would be entitled to duty pass, national holidays, weekly off on Sundays and two days leave every month.
“We have been opposing re-employment of retired employees and recruitment of contract staff to technical posts since it would be a serious compromise on safety and accountability. Where there are thousands of educated and employable youth, there is no need to engage retired employees. This will also affect the career growth of existing staff,” All India Railwaymen’s Federation working president N. Kannaiah told The Hindu on Sunday.
‘Policy shift’
Mr. Kannaiah said the railways had made a beginning by re-employing retired staff to clerical posts. But extending the appointments to other categories was not acceptable since it was against the welfare of the staff and safety of passengers. Recruiting contract staff at the zonal level might lead to irregularities and such staff would ultimately stake claim for regular employment. “This is a major policy shift. We will vehemently oppose any move to engage retired employees and contract staff to technical posts and safety categories,” he said.
He said loco pilots must have an agile mind and body through the journey while on duty. “They are subjected to medical fitness tests every year after attaining the age of 45 years. Many of them develop vision problems besides hypertension, diabetes etc. How can we expect retired employees to endure the stress of long working hours,” he asked.
All India Loco Running Staff Association general secretary V Balachandran said Southern Railway had issued advertisements to engage retired employees to 310 posts in the Tiruchi Division. “The posts included Shunter , Power Controller, Traction Controller and Technical Staff in Electrical Signal and Mechanical Departments. The Thiruvananthapuram division has also called for applications from retired employees to fill vacancies of loco pilots. We held a demonstration recently to oppose the re-employment of retired employees as it would be detrimental to safety and efficiency of railways,” he said.
