Central Railway to hire 1,400 retired staff temporarily in Mumbai to clear pending work

Indian Railway has begun a mega recruitment drive, but it will take time to hire and then train the new staff, so a temporary plan has been put in place.

Even as the Indian Railway has begun a mega-recruitment drive to fill 90,000 vacancies pan India, the Mumbai division of the Central Railway (CR) is temporarily hiring around 1,400 retired staffers on an urgent basis for various posts such as carpenters, superintendents, painters and clerks, to handle the work that has piled up because of the shortage of staff.

Retired staffers can be hired only up to the age limit of 65. (HT File Photo)

According to CR officials, this is the first instance of hiring such a large number of retired staffers in the Mumbai division. This will help them in smooth running of trains, especially considering recruitment of fresh staff is expected to take time, and even after the massive requirement drive, the new staff will have to go through training.

A senior CR official said that they are hiring a total 1,396 retired staffers on a temporary basis. The highest number, 371, will be re-engaged for civil works, followed by 271 in signalling and telecommunication. The 170 posts of railway track maintainers will be filled through this re-hiring drive, however, the retired staffers will be allowed to work only till the end of 2019.

The railway board, the policy-making body of the Indian Railways has issued proper guidelines for re-engaging retired staff in zonal railways in order to overcome shortage of staff. Another railway official said that as per the guidelines, the retired staffers can be hired only up to age limit of 65, and they will be paid a fixed remuneration that should be lesser than their last salary drawn before retirement.

“The re-engagement of retired staffers is just a stop-gap arrangement,” said a senior railway officer, who did not wish to be named. CR has invited applications from interested retired employees, working on the same posts or the department, preferably from the Mumbai division of CR, before June 22. They are hoping for a good response but are also bit sceptical because of the age bar of 65 for re-engagement of retired staffers.

“It’s a proactive new guideline from the Railway Board for smooth working,” said SK Jain, divisional railway manager of CR’s Mumbai division.