Plight of Engineering Gr in Rly by KVR

Plight of Engineering Graduates in Indian Railways:

Plight of Engineering Graduates in Indian Railways

Highest Entry Qualification:

Highest Entry Qualification Graduate Engineers inducted in Railways as Senior Supervisors, after stringent selection and scrupulous training in Railway working system. Highest entry qualification in the entire Government Group-C cadres.

Occupies the highest Group-C Cadre in all Departments of Railways:

Occupies the highest Group-C Cadre in all Departments of Railways Recruited in Mechanical, Electrical, Civil and S&T departments as SSE/WS, SSE/C&W, SSE/Diesel, SSE/PCO, SSE/P.Press, SSE/Safety and CMS SSE/Electrical/WS, SSE/AC, SSE/OHE, SSE/TL, SSE/Power and SSE/PCO SSE/P.Way, SSE/Bridges and SSE/Works, SSE/Signal and SSE/Telecommunication SSE/Design & Drawing, etc

Trained in Technical & Non-technical fields:

Trained in Technical & Non-technical fields Undergoes one year on the job training. Trained not only in respective field but also in other Technical fields besides Establishment & Finance rules, Stores procedures, DAR rules, Factories act, HOER, etc

Shoulders Highest Responsibilities:

Shoulders Highest Responsibilities Supervises & Manages Junior Engineers, a large work force of Technicians and other Staff engaged in Production of Rolling Stock & Locomotives. Repair and maintenance of Rolling Stock & Locomotives. Installation, repair and maintenance of P.Way, Bridges, Numerous Railway buildings & other civil engineering assets. Installation, repair and maintenance of Electric traction, distribution & other electrical assets.

Shoulders Highest Responsibilities …..continued :

Shoulders Highest Responsibilities …..continued Installation, repair and maintenance of Signal & Telecommunication & other assets. Stringent Quality control through Chemical & metallurgical Maintenance of other allied Machinery, Plants, Equipments and other valuable Assets of the Railways which is continuously expanding & modernised

Duties & Responsibilities:

Duties & Responsibilities Technical Duties Non – Technical Duties Managerial Duties .

Managerial Duties:

Managerial Duties As in-charge of his area, controls and responsible for all activities, Technical, Non-technical, Ministerial etc Man power planning. On the job training for trainees, apprentices, conducting of trade test etc, Liaison with out side agencies. Work contract, technical suitability, vendor rating etc, Preparation of annual M&P and works programme. Planning capacity augmentation in machinery, plant, material, land & man. Maintenance of Industrial relation. Restoring normalcy during natural calamities.

Technical Duties:

Technical Duties Timely completion of outturn or maintenance work. Raising of indents and maintenance & disposal of stores and their accounting. Allocation & distribution of staff to various work centres. Recourses planning – Man power planning, process planning, M&P, tool & Jig planning. Control of documents and data for adhering to the schedules. Coordination between sections, customer and customer.

Technical Duties ……continued :

Technical Duties ……continued Ensuring availability of Raw, Semi finished and finished materials. In process quality control. Installation, commissioning and maintenance of machineries and plants. Calibration of measuring instruments and Equipments. Maintenance of equipments and instruments as per QMS and EMS standards. Ensuring good house keeping to have accident free work spot.

Non-Technical Duties:

Non-Technical Duties Maintenance of EMS and QMS records. History cards, manuals, men & m/c idle. Files and records regarding staff matter. Attendance and Incentive hours record. Maintenance and issue of pass & PTO. Claiming wages and ensuring distribution. Smooth conduction of election for organised labour, society, institutes etc. Conduction of DAR enquires. Court witness for Railway property.

Hopes shattered, No self Esteem:

Hopes shattered, No self Esteem Entered the Railways with great hope that they will have career progression with respect and dignity. But their hopes were totally destroyed and they are working without motivation and spirit which is not good either for growth of Railways or their homes. More than 90% of Graduate Engineers will retire in same entry grade which is provocative situation in Indian Railways and which will not be there in any part of the country or the world.

No Social Status:

No Social Status Graduate Engineers, though came out from universities with flying colors, joined Railways only to get demoralized in their career. Where as their counterpart Engineers came out from same universities who are appointed elsewhere have prosperous career. Due to this peculiar situation, graduate Engineers inducted in Indian Railways have not only lost their official status but also their social status.

Very purpose defeated:

Very purpose defeated Induction of Graduate Engineers in Group-C has been done For the purpose of bringing in the talented fresh knowledge group to manage & complement the modernizations and sophistications in Railways. To excel in the higher grade posts with the good experience in field level management. By allowing the Graduate Engineers to get rotten at the recruitment scale itself the basic purpose of induction of Graduate Engineers get defeated.

Humiliating Pay Scales:

Humiliating Pay Scales Pay Grades of Graduate Engineers in Railways are humiliatingly low. Supporting department staff like accounts, Teachers and Nurses given higher Grade Pay. All Group-C categories have been equated to the SSE with the Grade Pay of Rs.4600, despite of their less recruitment qualifications, minimum/nil training, lesser duties and responsibilities. Categories working under SSE also given the same Grade Pay.

Meager career Progression:

Meager career Progression Engineering Graduates have almost nil avenue of promotion. Their promotion channel is restricted to 4200 posts available in Group-B. Even the MACP Scheme which ensures three step financial up-gradation to all categories, gives only two step financial up-gradation (Rs.4800 GP, Rs.5400 GP in PB-2 and again Rs.5400 GP in PB-3) to the Graduate Engineers.

Multifaceted – Attracts more punishment – Tough selection:

Multifaceted – Attracts more punishment – Tough selection Multifaceted Duties & responsibilities along with main Technical duties which decides the performance level & public face of Railways. Stringent punishment for any lapses. For any safety violation, customer compliant, accident, punctuality lapse, under utilization of resources, unsafe working condition, etc SSE of any one of the department will be fixed invariably. Being taken up for lapses in non technical duties like pay distribution, Stores procedure, Factories act, HOER, pass rules, etc. Syllabus for selection to the next promotion covers all fields in Railways right from budgeting to scrap disposal. No such stringent punishment or tough selection procedure for the highly paid categories of Nurses, Teachers and Accounts.

All Government departments treat the Graduate Engineers better :

All Government departments treat the Graduate Engineers better Graduate Engineers in all other Central Government departments like MES, Ordinance factories, CPWD, etc are recruited in Gaztetted cadre. Public Works Departments and Electricity Boards of State Governments who follows central Government pay pattern granted higher Grade Pay with gazetted status to Graduate Engineers. PSUs offer high pay scales, allowances and better career progression.

Migration can be the bench mark:

Migration can be the bench mark Nurses of reputed hospitals which offer world class treatment are being paid one sixth of Government nurses. Migration of nurses takes place from Private hospitals to Government hospitals. Teachers of Management run schools which produces top rank students in metric & HSC examinations are paid less than one sixth of Government teachers. Migration takes place from Management run schools to Government schools. Recently Government of Tamilnadu recruited teachers on seniority without any age restriction. Management run schools teachers with very good reputation and even with the age of more than 50 years migrated to Government schools for better pay & appreciably low work load. Except top financial mangers other account posts are very much insignificant in private sectors. No one migrates from Government to other sectors.

Migration can be the bench mark:

Migration can be the bench mark But Graduate Engineers of reasonably good private sectors are paid attractive salary, allowances, performance based remunerations, etc. Graduate Engineers migrate to other sectors from Railways for better pay, better working conditions, career prospects, recognition, etc.

Is this right? :

Is this right? Will Railways continue to neglect this category for ever or wake up to take corrective steps? Will any eminent administrator tolerate such a peculiar situation for any highly qualified and resourceful men to lose motivation and spirit? Is this situation good for national progress and Railways which have the VISION for 2020?

Demands in a Nut shell:

Demands in a Nut shell

Dignify the Engineers:

Dignify the Engineers Senior Section Engineers in Grade Pay of Rs.4600 should be granted the Grade Pay of Rs 5400 in PB-3. All the Senior Section Engineers be granted with Group-B gazetted status. For better career prospects and higher level of management number of Gazetted posts should be increased. Combined cadre restructuring of Group-A, B & C