In order to remove under performers, the zonal railway offices have been asked to prepare a list of employees’ who will be attaining 55 years of age or completing thirty years of service by the 1st quarter of 2020, according to sources in the ministry.
Sources said that those in this category found ineligible to continue in service will be offered premature retirement.
A letter from the Railway Board to the zonal offices reads, “Zonal Railways are, therefore, requested to furnish in an enclosed document the service records of employees who will be attaining the age of 55 years or completing 30 years of service qualifying for pension, whichever happens earlier, in the 1st quarter of 2020, that is, from January - March 2020”.
The letter, dated 27th July 2019 mentioned that the board has given 9th August as the last date to submit all the details.
A source said, “This is part of a periodic review that we are undertaking in which staff whose performance is not up to the mark or have disciplinary issues will be offered premature retirement. The government is very serious about this”.
Recently the Lok Sabha was told that the performance of more than 1.19 lakh Group-A & Group-B officers in government departments had been evaluated between 2014 & 2019 with regard to premature retirement clause.
The sources added that as of now, there are 13 lakh railway staff and the ministry wants to bring it down to 10 lakh by next year. And this is why the Zonal railway offices have been asked to access files & records related to an employee’s attendance, punctuality, mental and physical fitness.
A separate section has been made in which it has been queried if the staff is cost conscious, how he or she copes with correspondence and a rating for his or her discipline.
