Railways abolished 72,000 jobs in 6 years; which posts went, and why?

The Indian Railways, the biggest employer in the world, has abolished over 72,000 positions in the last six years.

Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala Dr V Sivadasan recently asked Union Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to reinstate all the 72,000 positions abolished, but there is no indication the Centre plans to do so.

We give you the lowdown on the railway jobs that the Railway Ministry has termed redundant  and decided to abolish.

The world’s biggest employer

The Indian Railways employs about 14 lakh people, which makes it the biggest employer in the world. It is the scope and ability of the Railways to provide so many jobs that makes potential employees line up for the test/interview every year.

Early this year, applicants staged protests in several North Indian states, alleging irregularities in the Railway Recruitment Board’s non-technical popular categories exam of 2021. A year before the pandemic, about 2.5 crore aspirants submitted applications for just 1 lakh job openings.

Posts abolished and why

Railway jobs are categorised as Groups A and B (gazetted) and Groups C and D (non-gazetted). Then there are vacancies and quotas for people from varied backgrounds like culture, art and sports.

All the 72,000 posts abolished over the years have been in the Group C and D categories. Group C includes technical as well as non-technical positions like station masters, ticket collectors, clerks, etc., while Group D includes the posts of peons, helpers, and cleanliness staff.

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The Railways argues that the posts abolished had become redundant mainly because of  the advent of technology, and hence it decided against filling them up. The ones employed in these positions are being moved to other departments.

Per Railway Ministry data provided in Parliament, 16 railway zones abolished about 56,000 posts between 2015 and 2021 alone. The Northern Railways surrendered the maximum more of posts (9,000 posts), followed by Southern Railways (7,524), Eastern Railways (5,700) and South Eastern Railways (4,677).

Financial health

Salaries and employee pensions constitute the biggest expenditure of the Railways. Per estimates, about 70 per cent of its revenue is spent on these two heads, a reason good enough to curtail posts.

Several inquiry panels in the past, including the Committee on Restructuring Railways, had suggested curtailing expenses on salaries, which they termed as “extremely high and unmanageable”. Experts have said time and again that the Railways can generate bigger profits by cutting employee costs.

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Despite the losses it incurs in passenger traffic, the Railways has moved ahead by pushing its freight earnings which increased by about 25% in the last financial year.