New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) The Railway Board has constituted a five-member committee to examine and recommend ways to improve the working condition of train controllers after the Research Design and Standards Organisation flagged several concerning issues such as pay scale, vacancies, recruitment process and basic amenities among other things.
“Ministry of Railway (Railway Board) have decided to constitute a Committee on working of traffic controllers on IR (Indian Railway),” said an office order dated August 27, 2024.
PTI, on August 25, 2024, had published a detailed report on the study by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), which functions under the Railway Ministry, according to which the train controllers face multiple challenges at work including “unattractive” pay scale, huge stress due to vacancy leading to health concerns and a lack of basic amenities.
The RDSO had submitted its report to the Railway Board in June, 2024.
According to the order, the committee will consist of three Additional Members of Staff, Revenue and Traffic; one Principal Executive Director of Infra and two Executive Directors of Transformation and Traffic Transportation.
“The Committee may co-opt any other member as required or undertake field visits for consultations and deliberations,” it said.
The order has mentioned the Committee’s three Terms of Reference such as examining and suggesting “output performance based payment” among the modalities for financial incentives.
The Committee would also examine if the Railway Board should restore the recruitment of Traffic Apprentices through the Railway Recruitment Board for the post of train controllers which was stopped in 2020.
Besides, the Committee would also look into all other suggestions given by the RDSO study report on several issues.
“The Committee may deliberate and recommend item-wise and process for Board’s approval as required on each item where its deliberations are concluded. The Committee shall submit its report within 2 months from the date of its constitution,” the order said.
The order has included a backgrounder note in which the RDSO’s study and its various implications have been discussed.
According to the note, the zonal railways have conveyed concerns regarding an alarming 16% vacancy currently in Traffic Controllers’ Cadre on the Indian Railways.
“The vacancies are estimated to double by 2026-27 to about 30% unless immediate measures are taken to address the issues that are leading to repeated unresponsiveness to vacancy notices for selections from major feeder categories of SMs (station masters) who are at the same pay level,” it said.
Calling Traffic Control Organisation as the central nerve system of the Indian Railways’ organisational system, it said the Traffic Control Organisation’s main function is to generate train paths for the rail transportation for a given fixed Track Infra and carrying capacity of wagons.
“Further, the corporate objective of IR viz. Safety and Punctuality, including Traffic restoration during events of disruptions, are served by the Traffic Control Organisation,” it said.
The backgrounder note highlighted an important HR issue regarding the classification of Traffic Controllers as an “Intensive” category under Hours of Work and Period of Rest (HOER).
“Their feeder category, generally from ASM (assistant station master)/SM (station masters), are mostly categorised as ‘Continuous’ but on selection as Traffic Controllers the work pressure increases manifold and is hence categorised as ‘Intensive’ – the most strenuous work category — defined under the Clause D of Section 130 of HOER Rules of IR as strenuous nature of work tending to cause mental or physical strain and continuous application to such work with little or no period of relaxation’,” the note said.
It added, “Rail Transportation Throughput has increased manifold on IR network, with multi-line Traffic Density and much higher speeds of the mixed traffic, yet, despite a human limitation to the crushing workload, the HOER category cannot but remain static (Intensive).” The ministry, in the note, acknowledged that “there is absolutely nil incentive to Traffic Controller Cadre, either in the form of work category or better pay level or any other financial benefit.” “There is therefore a need to address this serious HR issue when an employee is in ‘Intensive’ HOER category but the work-load, demands on attention span and output keep increasing in a quantifiable manner,” it said adding that there is a need to consider an incentive scheme for Traffic Controllers.
It has categorised the concluding suggestion in the RDSO’s study report into five main sections such as offering incentive to attract and retain talent as an immediate measure to fill up vacancies; Recruitment and Selection process for filtering most suitable talent; HR quality which includes selection criteria, aptitude tests, training (refresher courses); Efficiency multiplier factors by use of technology and regular work study reports; and ‘’Hygiene Factors’ like sound-proof ergonomic cabins, medical category, priority allotment of quarters near Control Office among others. PTI JP AS AS
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