Rail downsizing may take a hit

Railway Minister Laloo Prasad has promised 40,000 new jobs

In a move that can further bloat the Railways' salary bill, the ministry plans to seek an exemption from the present recruitment policy that seeks to rightsize the employee strength by allowing a 2 per cent attrition every year.

The attrition norm means that for every three vacancies, following the superannuation of employees, only one will be filled. At this rate, the railways has been able to reduce its workforce from 1.7 million in 1998 to 1.41 million in 2003-04, and is expected to reduce it by another 200,000 by 2010.

This target may prove to be elusive as Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has already promised the recruitment of at least 40,000 more people.

The railways' finances, which are already strained, will turn from bad to worse since wages, salaries and staff benefits account for a third of the total expenditure.

The share of total staff costs, including the pension liabilities, is 45 per cent of the expenditure. The railways spent close to Rs 14,500 crore on wages and salaries during 2003-04.

Yadav's new-jobs-on-rails policy has takers. There are about 100,000 positions lying vacant, and indications are that the minister may try and fill all of them, ministry officials said.

They point out to an acute shortage of gangmen (those who lay the tracks), and filling up around 30,000 vacancies under this category alone. The recruitment of gangmen has been termed "urgent" for the purpose of safety.

"The Indian Railways is a dynamic organisation and various activities like laying of new tracks and introduction of additional trains happen every year. More workers are thus needed to cope with the developmental activities taking place," a ministry official said.

The 2 per cent attrition rate may thus not be sustainable, he reasoned. He also said the railways had been making efforts to reduce its surplus staff who could not be retrenched.

They included medically unfit people. The railways, at present, had 3,000 such surplus staff and a special voluntary retirement scheme for them is being worked upon, the official said.

Conflicting moves

• The railways spent close to Rs 14,500 crore on wages and salaries during 2003-04
• The share of total staff costs, including the pension liabilities, is 45 per cent of the entire expenditure
• The railways had been making efforts to reduce 3,000 unfit surplus staff. A special voluntary retirement scheme for them is being worked upon