Railways Target 2.5% Job Cuts A Year

The Union railway ministry plans to cut jobs at the rate of 2.5 per cent per annum during the next three-four years to shore up its finances. However, trade unions have already threatened to oppose the move by the Railways which is the countrys largest employer.

The planned job cuts would mean that 37,000-40,000 jobs would have to be eliminated by the Railways each year. However, the Railways brass wants this level to be pegged at 30,000 a year for now. The Railways current staff amounts to about 15 lakh.

The decision gives a new thrust to the ongoing job-cutting exercise in the Railways. It is now proposed to pursue the exercise vigorously since the Railways desperately needs finance to implement planned projects.

 

To raise funds, resource mobilisation from within will have to be stepped up, specially now that the budgetary support from the government is declining consistently.

The Railways two-fold strategy to shore up its finances is to maximise the earnings and reduce expenditure through tight control, says railway board chairman M Ravindra.

Ravindra said half of the Railways earnings are spent on the staff, including their pension. Therefore, staff reduction at the rate of 2.5 per cent a year is a must.

However, Ravindra does not favour a freeze on recruitment of essential staff from the passengers viewpoint such as ticket collectors, coach conductors etc.

The final outcome of this staff-reduction-cum-job creation exercise should be that the Railways work-force declines by about 30,000 employees a year.

Ravindra said he wants to achieve this objective without any industrial unrest. Therefore, he proposes to take the workers into confidence about the forthcoming job cuts. He also ruled out the possibility of a voluntary retirement scheme or retrenchments. We just cannot send a man home, he asserted.

Redeployment of the staff after training, re-adjustment of the work-force, no filling of vacancies caused by retirements etc appear to be among the measures that Ravindra intends to adopt in order to achieve the massive job cut goal.

In the past, World Bank and Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) studies have also recommended that the Indian Railways should reduce jobs as it is severely over-staffed.

However, railway trade unions reacted sharply to the move, saying they would oppose it strongly.

Expressing opposition to the wholesale cuts per annum, M Raghuvaiha, general secretary of the Intuc-affiliated National Federation of Indian Railwaymen said the Railways is a growing organisation in which the volume of work is increasing. Since 1995, more than 400 additional trains have been introduced along with an increase in the volume of the associated services. Raghuvaiha said he has already opposed the move in a letter to the railway board and would continue to oppose it strongly.

HMS-linked All India Railwaymens Federation president Umaraomal Purohit said: This is the largest job cut planned by the Railways and will force the worker to work over-time. We oppose it strongly.

Purohit said if any such decision was implemented without discussing the matter with the unions, it would not only be opposed, but stymied. He threatened an agitation if the job cuts proceed in an irrational manner without full consultations with the unions.

The Railways two-pronged strategy to shore up finances is to maximise earnings and reduce expenditure... Half of the Railways earnings are spent on the staff, including their pension... Therefore, staff reduction at the rate of 2.5 per cent a year is a must. M Ravindra Railway Board chairman