In view of “difficulties” faced by railways due to vacant posts of Gazetted Officers, the Railways Board has decided to reappoint retired railway officers as consultants. The re-engagement scheme, encompassing for both junior and senior categories, will be valid until December 2026.
According to a circular issued last month, the board directed the zonal general managers to re-engage retired railway officers, who have retired from Junior Time Scale (JTS – Level 10), Senior Time Scale (STS – Level 11), and Junior Administrative Grade (JAG – Level 12). Their re-engagement would be against the vacant posts at JTS (Level-10) & STS (Level-11), as per the circular.
The circular has empowered general managers to re-engage retired Railway officers mentioning 16 terms and conditions for them to follow.
“As a policy initiative, to encourage a training model by re-engaging retired officers in CTIs (Centralised Training Institutes), DG/CTIs may re-engage retired officers as faculty against vacant posts up to NFSG (Non-Functional Selection Grade) (L-13) in CT1s,” it said.
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The Railway Board has fixed the maximum age limit of the re-engagement as 65 years and said the engagement of consultants shall not be considered as a case of re-employment.
Consultants’ remuneration after re-engagement into service
A fixed monthly remuneration shall be admissible, arrived at by deducting the basic pension from the pay drawn at the time of retirement, the circular said. “The amount of remuneration so fixed shall remain unchanged for the term of the contract. Annual increment/percentage increase and dearness allowance shall not be allowed during the contract period.”
What will be the engagement term?
The engagement shall be initially for a period of one year and further extendable as per requirement. No retired officer should be engaged beyond the validity of the scheme.
How many leaves consultants will be allowed in a month?
According to the board, paid leave of absence may be allowed at the rate of 1.5 days for each completed month of service and accumulation of leave beyond a calendar year will not be allowed nor carried forward in case the engagement is extended.
“Also, no payment in lieu of unutilised leaves will be paid at the time of discharge/expiry of the contract,” it said.
The circular clarified that re-engaged officers shall not be entitled to HRA and residential accommodation, however, transport allowance for commuting from home to office and back shall be allowed not exceeding the rate applicable to the appointee at the time of retirement.
“The amount so fixed shall remain unchanged during the term of appointment. Retired employees engaged as consultants may be allowed TA/DA in the official tour, if any, as per their entitlement at the time Of retirement,” the circular said.
“The re-engaged officer shall be discharged immediately on joining of selected candidate(s) from UPSC or through departmental selection as per the recommendation of PHOD (Principal Head of Department) concerned,” the circular added.