Major Layoff Likely In Indian Railways

The Indian Railways is likely to face a majorlayoff as many as three lakh employees may be asked to take early voluntaryretirement.

It is presumed that employees above the age of55 may be asked to quit their positions.

In this regard, the Ministry of Railways andRailway Board have already written to all zonal chiefs, seeking a report on theperformance of employees and also sought a list of all employees above the ageof 55 and of those who complete 30 years of service in the first quarter of2020.

All zonal managers have been asked to holdperformance review of staff members which will take into account employees'physical and mental fitness, daily attendance record and discipline and preparetheir service record on its basis.

The letter was sent to the officials on July 27and they have been asked to arrange the reports and send them to the ministryand Railway Board by August 9.

"Ministry of Railways is now studying profilesof many officers to see if some action can be initiated to give a message tothe others," as said by Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal .

The Indian Railways intends to reduce itsworkforce from 13 lakh to around 10 lakh with this attempt.