Question : Vacant Posts

(a) whether it is a fact that the posts falling vacant on retirement of employees are not being filled up in the Railways;

(b) if so, the total posts of various categories lying vacant in the Indian Railways as on February, 2018;

(c) whether it is correct that close to 1.2 lakh jobs are left vacant in the Railways, many of which are ground-level positions that play a crucial role in the safety of passengers and if so, the details thereof;

(d) the manner and extent in which the Railways will be able to provide required, better facilities and safety to their passengers with the shortage of workforce;

(e) whether following the recent train accidents, the Railways has decided for filling up of these vacancies to boost safety and better facilities to the passengers and if so, the details thereof; and

(f) whether the Railways has initiated any special drive to fill up these vacant posts at the earliest, if so, the details of steps taken in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (d) : Occurrence and filling up of vacancies is a continuous process in the Railways. The policy of the Government is to fill up the vacancies as per operational requirements. The total posts in various categories lying vacant over Zonal Railways as on 1.2.2018 is around 2.47 lakhs (provisional), which includes around 1.46 lakhs vacancies in safety categories. Sanctioned posts in all categories are more than the actual operational requirements because they include an element of Leave Reserve and Rest Givers. This Leave Reserve varies from 12.5% to 30% in safety categories. Efficiency in operational performance of the Railways is maintained by appropriate manpower planning and there is no compromise in this regard.

(e) and (f): A recruitment process has been initiated to fill up around 90,000 vacancies mainly in safety categories, for which Employment Notices were issued in February 2018.
*****