Railway engineers demand pay commission for wage parity, Group B posts

AIREF has urged the 8th Central Pay Commission to restore pay parity, expand Group-B posts, improve career progression and enhance allowances for railway engineers

The All India Railway Engineers Federation (AIREF) has demanded a comprehensive overhaul of the service conditions of railway engineers, restoration of pay parity, reclassification of engineering posts, faster career progression and enhanced allowances for one of Indian Railways' largest technical workforces.

 

Urging the 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) to address two decades of pay anomalies and career stagnation, the federation pointed out that the railway engineers' cadre, responsible for the safety and maintenance of the country's vast rail network, has remained disadvantaged despite its expanding responsibilities.

 

"Junior Engineers (JEs) and Senior Section Engineers (SSEs) had higher pay scales than equivalent posts in the nursing, teaching and accounts cadres up to the Fifth CPC, but the Sixth CPC reversed this relativity," AIREF said, requesting the 8th CPC to restore higher pay scales and grade pay.

 

The federation has also sought a major restructuring of the engineering cadre by upgrading junior engineers to Group B (non-gazetted) and senior section engineers to Group B (gazetted), bringing them at par with engineering posts in other Central government ministries.

 

"Only 0.29 per cent of posts in Indian Railways fall under Group B, compared with significantly higher proportions in ministries such as Finance (37.16 per cent), Agriculture (29.96 per cent), Health (22.57 per cent) and Defence (14.5 per cent). It must increase to at least the national average of 7.5 per cent for railways," said B P Dash, secretary general of AIREF.

 

The federation has urged the Commission to substantially increase the number of Group B posts, allow Level 6 and Level 7 recruits to enter Group B directly, abolish personal interviews and loco pilot seniority weightage in promotions, and ensure every railway engineer receives at least five functional promotions during service.

 

"We have demanded a 15 per cent technical allowance, a 30 per cent risk and hardship allowance for the JE and SSE cadre, an excluded category allowance for employees who work without fixed rest hours under the Hours of Employment Regulations, and restoration of other allowances," said Bobin Mohanty, adviser to AIREF.

 

During an interaction with 8th CPC officials in Bhubaneswar, Sivakant Singh, organising secretary general of the federation, raised the issue of career stagnation among railway engineers. He said engineers retire without receiving a single promotion.

 

Apart from financial benefits, the federation has sought improvements in welfare measures. It demanded a designated weekly rest mechanism for railway engineers, better rest house facilities on a par with running staff, protection against the lapsing of earned leave beyond 300 days, and an increase in leave encashment opportunities from six to 12 occasions, among other measures.