Railway Unions Express Optimism for Staff Welfare and Safety Demands in Upcoming Union Budget

With the Union Budget presentation approaching, two railway federations are hopeful about their demands being met. They have requested new post creations, filling vacancies, and distributing Rakshak devices. The National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) and the All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) submitted their proposals to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier this month.

The federations have urged the government to lift the ban on creating new posts for new assets and capacity enhancement in the Railways. They also seek the restoration of the old pension scheme, improved medical facilities for specialised treatment, and risk and hardship allowances for signal staff. NFIR general secretary M Raghavaiah stated, "We are hopeful that the majority of our demands and proposals will be accepted and announced in the forthcoming Union Budget."

Railway Safety and Employee Welfare

Shiv Gopal Mishra, AIRF general secretary, expressed optimism about addressing major issues concerning railway employees in the budget. The AIRF has called for implementing Kavach across the rail network, upgrading passenger amenities at stations, increasing per-capita contributions in the Staff Benefit Fund, and filling safety category vacancies. Mishra highlighted that over one lakh vacancies exist in Level 1 safety categories.

Mishra criticised the Railway Board's decision to reduce vacancies to 32,000, calling it insufficient and a threat to railway safety. He emphasised the need for enhanced training facilities for staff. "Institutes should be fully equipped to meet changing technology and future research," he suggested.

Financial Demands and Allowances

The NFIR prioritised restoring the old pension scheme, paying frozen dearness allowance and dearness relief to central government employees, ex-gratia payments to families of Covid victims in Railways, and tax exemption for transport allowance. In a letter dated January 10 to Modi, Raghavaiah reiterated these requests.

Raghavaiah demanded an expedited decision on ex-gratia payments for families of rail employees who died during Covid duties. He also called for revising the fixed medical allowance to at least Rs 5,000 per month and exempting transport allowance from Income Tax.

Additional Union Concerns

Other unions have also raised staff welfare issues. Chand Mohammed from the All India Railway Trackmaintainers Union stressed allocating funds for Rakshak devices distribution. These GPS-enabled instruments alert track maintainers about approaching trains to prevent accidents.

Alok Chandra Prakash from the Indian Railway S&T Maintainers Union highlighted their demand for risk and hardship allowances for signal maintainers. This request has been pending with the finance ministry for several months.

The railway federations remain hopeful that their concerns will be addressed in the upcoming budget. They believe these measures are crucial for employee welfare and ensuring safe rail operations across India.