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Railways working on recruitment system overhaul

Currently, the Indian Railways has its own set of recruiting bodies in the form of RRBs
Last Updated 24 October 2021, 15:21 IST

The Indian Railways is working to overhaul its recruitment process by holding common entrance examinations on the lines of National Defence Academy (NDA) to hire talent to meet the latest technological needs.

The Railway is deliberating holding exam on the lines of NDA and doing away existing recruitment system. This was the recommendation made in a report ‘Rationalisation of Government Bodies Proposal for Ministry of Railways’ by Sanjeev Sanyal, principal economic advisor in the finance ministry.

The report, which made number of suggestions on bringing reforms in functioning of national transporter, is being discussed within the railways.

The proposal also includes attracting young talents and train them in the railways. If NDA model is followed, candidates will be selected after Class 12 and absorbed in the railways, said an official in the railways.

According to the report, 12th completed students should be shortlisted through a separate exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and provided with structured degree and diploma courses as per the requirement of rail transport sector.

The new system would overhaul the current recruitment process, where engineering graduates or other graduates enter the railway services after qualifying through the Indian Engineering Services or Civil Services exams conducted by the UPSC.

With railways aiming major transformation in its functioning including speed, management, modernisation of coaches, signaling, passenger facilities, there is a need to recruit talent directly and train them, said the report.

The report also said that the current practice of hiring graduates from regular academic institutions and training them in the domain of railway-specific technology is delays their induction and also waste of resources.

Sanyal also suggested that railways may conduct exams through National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts common entrance exams for higher educational courses.

He also recommended that the 21 Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) be subsumed under the NTA.

Currently, the Indian Railways has its own set of recruiting bodies in the form of RRBs.

The railways, single largest employer in the government sector, has about 14 lakh employees.

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(Published 24 October 2021, 14:58 IST)

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