(a) whether the operational staff of Railways, especially Gangmen, are put on duty for 22 to 24 hours continuously;
(b) if so, the steps taken to reduce stress level of the operational staff dealing with the safety operations;
(c) whether there is any proposal to put them on duty for not more than eight hours; and
(d) if not, the reasons therefor?
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI LALU PRASAD)
(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the Sabha.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 439 BY SHRI PRABHUNATH SINGH TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.12.2005 REGARDING WORKING HOURS OF OPERATIONAL STAFF
(a) No, Sir. The Gangmen on Indian Railways are not included in the category of operational staff. They work on a daily duty roster of 8 1/2 hours including preparatory and complementary time. The Operational Staff on the Indian Railway mainly consist of Drivers, Guards and Station Masters. Drivers and Guards are classified as `Continuous` and are statutorily required to work for 54 hours in a week. Their rostered hours have been fixed as 104 hours in a two weekly period of 14 days. This includes preparatory and complementary time.
Station Masters are generally classified as `Continuous` or `Essentially Intermittent`. When classified as `Continuous`, they are statutorily required to work for 54 hours per week and when classified as `Essentially Intermittent`, they are statutorily required to work for 75 hours per week.
(b) The operational staff are required to work beyond rostered hours in exceptional circumstances. To contain stress level, provision exists for periodic rest. Controlling over working hours, modernization of signalling, improvement in conditions of the running rooms, ergonomic design of crew-friendly locomotive cabs etc. are some of the measures taken in regard to reduce stress levels.
(c) & (d) No, Sir. Various Committees/Tribunal and CAT/Ernakulam have recommended to maintain the existing classification/working hours of Drivers and Guards. Duty hours of Station Masters are decided on the basis of classification determined by job analysis. This system is applicable for all categories of Railway staff including Station Masters.