The South-Central Railway (SCR) has announced plans to reduce its sanctioned workforce by 1,839 posts in the financial year 2024-25. The reduction will be two percent of the total sanctioned strength of over 88,000 posts, as mentioned by the Railway Board. A circular was issued on Tuesday underlined the steps SCR must make to achieve this target.

Directives by Railway Board

The decision has been taken based on a letter by the Railway Board dated May 8, 2024, ordering all railway zones to rationalise manpower by cutting down two percent of their sanctioned strength. The letter also stated zone-specific details of sanctioned strength as of April 1, 2024, and the number of posts to be surrendered in the financial year.

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The SCR in line with the given orders has instructed all its department heads to meet the target of 1,839 posts by redistribution and surrender. As per the SCR’s circular, the Secunderabad Division is likely to witness the largest reduction, with 476 posts that have been identified for surrender. The SCR’s efforts are part of an annual performance agreement (MOU) made between the Railway Board and the general managers of zonal railways for 2024-25.

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The Board highlighted that it is the need to take timely actions to avoid delays in meeting the targets. Under the process, redundant posts across divisions and departments will need to be identified.  The southern zone has also been asked by the Railway Board to keep posting updates on their status through the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) portal.

Details on implementation strategy

A total target of 28,816 has been set for manpower reduction across all zones and production units in 2024-25 posts out of 14,40789 sanctioned posts. Eastern Railway will be deducting 2,528 posts from its sanctioned posts of 1,26,418. Moreover, Northern Railway which has the largest human resource of 1,62,142 posts is supposed to surrender 3,243 posts. This initiative has been taken in view of broader planning to boost efficiency and resource allocation across Indian Railways.

(With inputs from PTI)