Nine Railway Federations, Associations, Unions and Organizations jointly demand the Railway Board to stop contractual employment in S&T Department and immediate fill up 2 lakh vacancies in safety categories of the Indian Railways

Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) correspondent

Nine Railway Federations, Associations, Unions (Indian Railway Employees Federation, All India Train Controllers Association, All India Loco Running Staff Association, All India Guards Council, All India Station Masters Association, All India Railway S&T Maintainers Union, All India Pointsmen Association and Central Railway Track Maintainers Union) and Kamgar Ekta Committee [Member of National Coordination Committee of Railwaymen’s Struggle(NCCRS)] sent a Joint Memorandum to Chairman and CEO, Railway Board, demanding withdrawal of the Railway Board Circular, which authorized General Managers of 4 Railway Zones to employ engineers and technicians on contract basis in the S&T Department. (Memorandum enclosed) The move to employ workers on contract basis in safety categories should never be allowed as it would compromise the safety of both passengers and railway employees.

They have also demanded the immediate filling up of the nearly 2 lakh vacancies in the safety departments of the Indian Railways.

The joint memorandum has pointed out that the actual vacancies in the safety departments will be more than 3.5 lakhs if the actual required strength in the safety categories is taken into account to provide humane working conditions to the railway employees in these departments and based on the Indian Railways’ own yardsticks/circulars.

The All India Forum Against Privatisation (AIFAP) had organised an online meeting on Sunday, July 20, 2025 on the topic, “Oppose the contractualisation of work in safety category of Indian Railways and immediately recruit required additional manpower in each department!” The meeting received an overwhelming response from railway workers and people at large from all over the country.

At the above meeting it was proposed by KEC that a jointly signed letter should be submitted to the Railway Board to demand

1. Withdrawal of the circular proposing employment of contract workers in S&T Department;
2. No contract worker and outsourcing should be allowed in any safety category;
3. All existing vacancies should be immediately filled with permanent employees;
4. Increase the sanctioned strength in each safety category in the light of many-fold increase of traffic.

The proposal was unanimously accepted and all the Associations and Unions actively participated by collecting the following required data from the 68 divisions of the Indian Railways

1. The sanctioned strength in each category on an all India basis,
2. The actual on roll strength in each category,
3. The actually required strength for each category taking into account the need for sufficient rest, leave and 8 hours of work for each railway employee.

The Joint Memorandum is a reflection of the desire of all railway workers to unite, in defence of their rights, cutting across categories, unions and their affiliations. It is also a reflection of the need for a united opposition to every attempt at contractualization, outsourcing and privatisation of public services such as the Indian Railways.

KEC hails this initiative of 9 railway federations, associations and unions to come together and unitedly oppose the decision of the Railway Board to employ contract labour in the Signal and Telecommunications Department of the Indian Railway and to demand the immediate filling of the vacancies in the safety categories.