Manpower shortage in the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Southern Railway zone, is poised to get reduced substantially with a chunk of newly recruited constables set to get inducted.
With indoor and outdoor training schedules on a slew of aspects and written examination for the recruits having been completed, the passing out parade is expected to be held in June third week for their formal induction.
Around 730 constable recruits meant for induction into the Southern Railway zone are undergoing training at the RPF training centres in Tiruchi, Moula Ali in Secunderabad, and Palampur in Himachal Pradesh. Those undergoing training at Palampur are 62 women constable recruits.
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The railway administration went on a mass drive to recruit around 16,000 constables to fill vacancies in RPF and Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) throughout the country. Of them, about 730 were meant for induction into the Southern Railway zone encompassing Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai, Salem, Palakkad, and Thiruvananthapuram divisions. RPF officials say about 363 constable recruits were undergoing training at RPF Training Centre in Tiruchi and 309 others at Moula Ali in Secunderabad.
Upon completion of passing out parade, the recruits would be sent for 45-day practical training in various railway divisions in Southern Railway zone prior to their posting. The recruits have been trained on a gamut of aspects, including functioning of Indian Railway and RPF, various rules of the force and handling of different types of weapons. Since the Chennai Railway Division in Southern Railway zone has about 600 vacancies, the lion’s share is expected to go to that division once the new recruits get inducted into the force, says a senior RPF officer.
Tiruchi Division, which has about 190 vacancies, is expected to get anywhere between 100 to 150 new constables. In addition, about 350 RPSF personnel would join the RPF in Southern Railway zone which would augment its manpower strength.
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Manpower shortage would get substantially reduced in RPF Southern Railway zone once the new recruits join the force in the second week of August, says the officer and added that nearly two-thirds of the vacancies would get filled up. The RPF of Tiruchi division has proposed to double the train escort teams once the new constables were posted to cover additional trains passing through the division.
Ahead of the passing out parade, the Inspector-General–cum-Chief Security Commissioner, RPF Southern Railway B. Mohan, inspected the training centre here recently to discuss the preparatory works to be done for the event with the officers. The IG met the Tiruchi Divisional Railway Manager A.K. Agarwal and discussed the arrangements to be made in connection with the passing out parade.