More than 2.74 lakh posts vacant in Railways, over 1.7 lakh of them in safety category: RTI
New Delhi, Jun 28: More than 2.74 lakh posts in the Railways are lying vacant as of this month, with over 1.7 lakh of them in the safety category alone, the national transporter has said in response to an RTI query.
In its reply to the questions filed by Chandra Shekhar Gaur, a Madhya Pradesh-based Right to Information (RTI) Act activist, the Railways said 2,74,580 posts are vacant in Group C category, including Level 1 or entry-level staff.
This includes 1,77,924 vacancies in the safety category, it said.
"The total number of non-gazetted posts vacant i.e. Group-C (including Level-1) in Indian Railways, as available in this office, as on 01.06.2023 (provisional) is: 2,74,580," the ministry said.
On the safety category, it said there are more than 9.82 lakh posts of which over 8.04 lakh are filled.
"Total number of sanctioned, on roll and vacant posts in safety category of Group-C (including Level-1) in Indian Railways, as available in this office, as on 01.06.2023 (provisional) are: 9,82,037, 8,04,113 & 1,77,924 respectively," the response said.
Railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said the issue is being addressed through direct recruitment, expeditious promotions and moving non-core staff to core jobs after training.
In December 2022, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament that 3.12 lakh non-gazetted posts were vacant in the Railways.
Safety category are personnel directly involved with train operations. They include key profiles like loco pilots, trackspersons, pointsmen, electrical works, signal and telecom assistants, engineers, technicians, clerks, guards/train manager, station masters and ticket collectors.
The shortage of staff in key posts has been flagged by railway unions regularly. In fact, rail unions have urged the ministry for more posts in track maintenance, fitness, senior and junior section engineers, gangmen, and technicians.
Eaplainign how this has affected the onground work, officials said is tremendous pressure on the workforce and the one on-ground staff has to cover eight to 10 km daily to inspect tracks.
"This is a sensitive job that requires more attention and it's difficult for them to cover so much distance," an official said.
Officials said the Railways, which has set a target of filling up 1.52 lakh vacancies by October 2023, has already provided letters of appointment to 1.38 lakh candidates. Out of these, 90,000 have joined. They said 90 per cent of these posts are of safety category.
After the horrific Balasore tragedy on June 2 in which more than 280 people died, the Railways directed its zones to launch a "special drive" to fill promotional vacancies especially in the safety category, amid mounting criticism from the Opposition and intense demand by the railway unions.
Railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said the national transporter is filling up posts by direct recruitment and also expeditious promotions.
"Apart from this, posts in non-core activities are being identified and they are being converted to core-activity. Existing manpower who are presently doing non-core jobs are being moved to core-jobs after being trained," he said.
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JD(S) wants changes in certain provisions in One Nation-One Election proposal
Bengaluru (PTI): The JD(S) has requested its ally BJP to make changes in certain provisions of the proposed 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill linked to the ONOE proposal, particularly the special powers proposed to be given to the ECI to recommend postponement of elections in any state.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee held discussions with political parties in Bengaluru on Saturday regarding the Constitution Amendment Bill connected to 'One Nation-One Election' and sought their suggestions and opinions.
The JD(S) said suitable amendments had been proposed to the provisions empowering the Election Commission of India to recommend to the President the deferment of state elections, while also seeking legal safeguards for the stability of coalition governments and protection for regional parties during simultaneous elections.
"With regard to the Bill, the JD(S) extended support to the Constitutional amendment with certain conditions and amendments, while suggesting safeguards to ensure that regional parties are not adversely affected by the aggressive election campaigns of national parties during simultaneous elections," the statement said.
The party stated that coalition governments have been formed and functioning at both the state and national levels for several decades in recent years, and "there is a need for legal protection to ensure their stability".
"Therefore, it also suggested incorporating legal safeguards for the stability of coalition governments in the proposed Constitutional amendment," the party, headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, said.
The proposed Constitutional amendment grants special powers to the ECI to recommend to the President the postponement of elections in any state. Suitable amendments to these special powers have been proposed, the party said.
"On the above stated subjects, suitable submissions were made to the JPC," the party said in a statement, which has been posted on its 'X' handle.
According to the statement, the JD(S) delegation was led by M Mallesh Babu and included former MP D Kupendra Reddy, former Assembly Deputy Speaker M Krishna Reddy, former minister Venkatrao Nadagouda, MLA T N Javarayi Gowda, former MLA K A Tippeswamy and party legal cell president A P Ranganath.
