Indian Railways Reviewing Performance Of Employees; All Set To Recruit 2.83 Lakh New Employees [Updated]

Indian Railways has initiated their routine performance review of all employees, as per service conditions laid down under Rules 1802 (a), 1803(a), 1804(a) of the Indian Railway Establishment Code, Vol II and Rule 66(1) (b) of the Railway services (Pension) rules, 1993 which are analogous to Rules 56(j), 56(1) and Rule 48 (1) (b) of the CCS(Pension) Rules, 1972.

Meanwhile, Railways is all set to recruit 2.83 lakh new employees

Retrenchment Drive At Indian Railways?

As per news coming in from official sources Indian Railways is all set to start performance review of all employees, as per the rules laid down under Indian Railway Establishment Code.

Railways Ministry has written to every Zonal head under their network to prepare ‘lists’, for performance review. As per some media reports, this may possibly lead to retrenchment as well. Although, this has been denied by Railways in their official statement.

Every railway employee (regardless of age) is being reviewed, even as performance reports and other metrics are being considered.

Besides, employees who are completing 30 years of service in Railways by 2020, can also be considered for this possible retrenchment exercise.

What Is The Reason For This Performance Review?

High expenses related to salaries and pension funds are being speculated as the main reason for these performance reviews (as per Zee News)

As of now, there are 13 lakh employees in Indian Railways.

Indian Railways spends 66% of their revenues only on salaries and pension funds, and this huge expenditure is a fact which can be bothering for any organization.

Besides, with every Pay Commission suggestion, the contribution towards pension funds increases, and it adds to the woes of the Railways.

By initiating retrenchment exercise via performance review and/or other means, Indian Railways aims to cut back on the slack, and save money.

Indian Railways Justifies This Move

In a statement, Indian Railways has said that such performance reviews do happen from time to time, and there is nothing new in this exercise.

Indian Railways have recruited approximately 1,84,262 employees in various categories during year 2014-19.Recruitment exercise for 2,83,637 posts is underway,out of which tests have already been conducted for 1,41,060 posts and the process shall be completed within next 2 months. pic.twitter.com/DyhQLVdXeB

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) July 30, 2019

However, as of now, there is no provision to remove those employees, whose performance has not been satisfactory.

Besides, Indian Railways has also stated that 2,83,637 new employees will be hired, and examinations for 1,41,060 posts have already been done.

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.

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Update:

Indian Railways has refuted the claims of layoffs of employees, but has admitted that performance review is on.

Here is the statement from Indian Railways:

A news item has been published in certain newspapers that Indian Railways are taking steps towards compulsorily retiring a sizeable number of Railway employees.

In this regard, it is clarified that letters have been issued to Railway Zones/Production Units etc, merely by way of reiteration, to conduct the routine review of performance of the Railway employees in pursuance of the service conditions laid down under Rules 1802 (a), 1803(a), 1804(a) of the Indian Railway Establishment Code, Vol II and Rule 66(1) (b) of the Railway services (Pension) rules, 1993 which are analogous to Rules 56(j), 56(1) and Rule 48 (1) (b) of the CCS(Pension) Rules, 1972. It is a routine exercise which is required to be conducted by the Administration in public interest and the same has been conducted in previous years as well. Any inference regarding the number of employees being retired under such Rules, as drawn in such clippings, is thus without any substance.

It is also to be noted that the Indian Railways have recruited approximately 1,84,262 employees in various categories during the period from 2014 to 2019. A further recruitment exercise for recruitment of 2,83,637 persons in underway, out of which examinations have already been conducted for 1,41,060 posts and the process shall be completed within the next two months.

Earlier reports had said that the Indian Railways had written to all zonal chiefs, asking them to prepare a list of all employees above the age of 55 and also those who would complete 30 years of service in the first quarter of 2020. They were also asked to conduct performance reviews of all employees and prepare a detailed report.