The Railways, in an unprecedented move, is likely to hire retired employees in the Mumbai division of both Central Railway and Western Railway by next year. The employees would be taken to fill vacancies in technical and operations departments of until new recruits are appointed. At present, there are more than 10,000 vacancies in the division in different grades and cadres. The move to rope in retired employees is considered to be an ad hoc measure to fill the absence of manpower in the required divisions, and comes after a Railway Board order on October 16 in this regard. The retired staff will be eligible to work till 65 years of age. The divisional railway managers of both CR and WR are empowered to re-engage the staff, who are competent and suitable to work at vacant positions. While the CR has already floated a tender to hire as many as 672 employees, the WR is likely to frame a draft policy and invite applications by next week. According to the board’s circular, the remuneration of retired employees hired for this purpose would subtract the pension amount from the last basic pay drawn. The remuneration would also include a payment of the required percentage of dearness allowance. “We are yet to decide the details of the payment that should be given to them. The norm is that the pay they draw after re-engagement should be lesser than their last pay drawn. They are expected to draw a daily remuneration between Rs 350 and Rs 600, depending on which grade the person is re-employed in. It is not necessary that they get re-engaged in the same job positions under which they retired,” a senior railway official said. The process of re-engagement of retired staff is likely to be completed by February 2018. Retired employees, who have applied for the job posts, are looking forward to the move. “We would be happy to contribute to the better functioning of the system, using inputs from our experience. Considering I have retired only in May this year, resuming job service excites me. I was responsible for as many as 300 workers working under me in the Wadi Bunder yard. The only thing I am curious about is the job role which would be offered to me. I prefer to work in the same type of job role under from which I retired,” said Vijay Kumar, retired senior section engineer, CR. However, B A Solanki, retired chief controller in train operations in WR, points out some issues the senior employees might face. “More than the remuneration, we must also feel satisfied in the job given to us. Taking orders from employees junior to me does raise eyebrows, but on the other hand, I would also help with my inputs to them,” he said. Senior railway officials have claimed the move benefits retired staff from economical weak backgrounds. “Railway recruitment for freshers in itself takes two years from the time of notification to appointment. Further, their training also is a time-consuming process. Job positions which are not impacting public safety are the likely positions to be given to the retired staff. They will only be eligible to work till employees hired under the official hiring process of railway recruitment join in,” said a senior official. “The retired staff would not be given independent charges and would be taken to fill job positions in various support activities undertaken by the railways. It is a stop-gap arrangement in place to fill the exigencies,” said Mukul Jain, Divisional Railway Manager of the Western Railway. “The recruitment of retired railway officials does not fill the exigencies in job roles which are related to safety in train operations. The division will still have to rely on fresh recruitment for the same. Though an experimental move, it further questions the way in which the railways may look at keeping retired staff for a temporary basis in the job positions, as opposed to employing new candidates on a permanent basis,” said a senior railway official. The Indian Railways faces an operational loss of Rs 33,000 crore. The largest public sector undertaking already sees hiring in various departments including hygiene, safety and technical on a contractual basis.
