Gatherings at railway offices on the last working day of every month is a customary practice to bid farewell to colleagues retiring from service. With the implementation of the Standard Operating Procedure, particularly physical distancing norms, to control the spread of COVID-19, such retirement functions were not held since April this year.
However, in a bid to boost the morale of employees bidding adieu to their colleagues on their last working day, the Ministry of Railways has decided to organise a video-conferencing event on the last working day of every month to honour staff retiring from service across the network, sources in Indian Railways told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Indian Railways is one of the largest employers with over 12 lakh employees working in its network running through the length and breadth of the country.
From now on, retirement functions would be on an all-India basis and hosted from New Delhi through video-conferencing. All zonal/divisional headquarters, production units, training centres and workshops would be able to participate live by connecting to the Railway Board.
First event
The first such retirement function on the virtual platform would be held on July 31, 2020, at 5 p.m. and thereafter every month on the last working day.
The zonal/divisional headquarters and other establishments would send in the list of employees retiring every month in a prescribed format. The Minister of Railways or the Minister of State for Railways would address the live gathering through video link, the sources said.
“Retirement formalities through virtual means will be part of the new normalcy. Earlier, we used to honour our colleagues in the office where they worked for a long time. It is more a nostalgic gathering where friends and colleagues recall their experiences with the retiring employee and he/she also gets an opportunity to speak. This may not be possible any more in the pandemic scenario…,” a senior railway official told The Hindu on Tuesday.
