Working Conditions

Indian Railways is one of the largest employer of the country. Working conditions of Railway staff and job profile of different categories of Railway staff differ greatly.

Employees Organisations and Trade Union History of Indian Railways

  • Trade union history of Indian Railways is as old as the labour movement in India. The trade union movement in India had been the child of industrial development.
  • The first employees organization in IR is formed in 1897 under the name of “Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of India and Burma” in the backdrop of a strike conducted by Guards.

Early Trade Unions in Railway Companies
Many Railway Trade union movements sprang up in different Railways during 1918-21. Important among them were:

Manpower planning in Indian Railways

  • Manpower planning is a process which aims to have the right number of staff at right places with right type of skills at right times to enable the organisation to achieve it s short term and long term goals. In other words, manpower planning is the system, which ensures the manpower availability at a given point of time.
  • Manpower planning means establishment of job specifications or qualitative requirements of jobs to determine the number of people required and to find supply source.

Job profile of SSE (Permanent Way)

  • SSE (Permanent Way) is a supervisor in Civil Engineering (Permanent Way) department of Railways.
  • SSE will be normally headquartered in major stations normally. He will be the in charge of a section of track (let us say 100-250 km length) stretching over a couple of stations.
  • He will be responsible for maintenance, repairs and attending to failures like rail fracture.
  • He will have a few JE(Junior Engineers) working under him and large team of workers consisting of trackman, gangman, khalasis, patrolman.

THE INDIAN RAILWAYS STRIKE OF 1974:A Study of Power and Organised Labour

Indian Railways strike of 1974 is a saga of heroism of ordinary railway workers and their families who dared  to stand up against the might of the Indian state. It is the most widespread revolt by the working class in independent India and the biggest strike in the history of Indian Railway. How many of us know about this heroic story of the ordinary railwaymen resisting terror unleashed by the Indira Gandhi regime?Indian Railways strike of 1974
 

Grievance Redressal machinery - Representations from Railway servants on service matters.

  • When Railway servant wish to seek redress of a grievance, he has to address the matter to his immediate official superior or the Head of his office or such other authority at the lowest level who is  competent to deal with the matter.
  • An appeal or representation to a higher authority must not be made unless the appropriate lower authority has already rejected the claim or refused relief or ignored or unduly delayed the disposal of the case.

Job profile of Senior Permanent Way Supervisor (Sr.PWS)

  • Senior Permanent Way supervisor(Sr.PWS) is a supervisor in Civil Engineering (Permanent Way) department of Railways.
  • He will work under the supervision of a JE/SSE. He will be responsible for the maintenance of a section of track allotted to him by the section in charge JE/SSE.
  • SSE will be his overall in charge and he will have a team of workers consisting of trackman, gangman, khalasis, patrolman.

Job profile of JE(Permanent Way)

  • JE (Permanent Way) is a supervisor in Civil Engineering (Permanent Way) department of Railways.
  • JE will be normally headquartered in junction/major/medium type stations normally.
  • He will be the in charge of a section of track (let us say less than 50 km length) stretching over a couple of stations. He will be responsible for maintenance, repairs and attending to failures like rail fracture.