CR TO REHIRE 1,400 RETIREES TO OVERCOME STAFF CRUNCH

MUMBAI: Even as the Indian Railway has begun a mega-recruitment drive to fill 90,000 vacancies pan India, the Mumbai division of the Central Railway (CR) is temporarily hiring around 1,400 retired staffers on an urgent basis for various posts like carpenters, superintendents, painters and clerks, to handle the work that has piled up because of the shortage of staff.

According to CR officials, this is the first instance of hiring such a large number of retired staffers in the Mumbai division. This will help them in smooth-running of trains, especially considering recruitment of fresh staff is expected to take time, and the new staff will have to go through training.

A senior CR official said that they are hiring a total 1,396 retired staffers on a temporary basis. The highest number, 371, will be re-engaged for civil works, followed by 271 in signalling and telecommunication.

The 170 posts of railway track maintainers will be filled through this re-hiring drive, however, the retired staffers will be allowed to work only till the end of 2019.

According to railway officers, this is a win-win situation for CR and retired staffers. The railway will get trained employees without any training and heavy financial burden, and the retired staffers will get a source of income. The railway board, the policymaking body of the Indian Railways has issued proper guidelines for re-engaging retired staff in zonal railways in order to overcome the shortage of staff. Another railway official said that as per the guidelines, the retired staffers can be hired only up to age limit of 65, and they will be paid a fixed remuneration that should be lesser than their last salary drawn before retirement.

“The re-engagement of retired staffers is just a stop-gap arrangement,” said a railway official. CR has invited applications from interested retired employees, preferably from the Mumbai division of CR, before June 22.

They are hoping for a good response but are also bit sceptical because of the age bar of 65 for re-engagement of retired staffers.