NEW DELHI: Amidst growing unemployment in the country, more than 2.65 lakh gazetted and non-gazetted posts under various categories are vacant in the Indian Railways (IR) for several years. Contrary to claims of employment generation, the Railways has been recruiting at a snail’s pace.
A couple of days ago, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw admitted that there are vacancies in 2,65,547 posts, including 2,177 for gazetted posts, in various zones. This is in spite of 1,89,790 recruitments in the last five years through the Railway Recruitment Board and Railway Recruitment Cells. The railway minister said that filing up of existing vacancies is an ongoing process in the Railways, depending on operational requirements.
According to official figures, Northern Railway has the highest of 37,436 non-gazetted vacancies, followed by Eastern Railway with 28,204, Central Railway with 27,177 and Western Railway 26,227.
The highest of 195 gazetted-post vacancies are in Eastern Railway, followed by Western Railway with 172, East Central Railway with 170 and Southern Railway with 161. These posts have been lying vacant for several years.
Apart from all these vacant posts in different zones, around 507 gazetted posts and 12,760 non-gazetted posts are vacant in other units of the Railways. In the Metro Railways, there are 22 vacancies in gazetted pots and 856 in non-gazetted posts. At the moment, there is no clarity on how, when and whether so many vacant positions will be filled.