Appointment of Substitutes on the railways
Substitutes
"Substitutes" are engaged in Indian Railway Establishments when regular posts are lying vacant and the process of filling up is delayed and the said posts cannot be kept vacant due to exigencies of work.
Process of engagement
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Substitutes in erstwhile Group ‘D’ should be engaged with the prior personal approval of the General Manager, while those in Group ‘C’ shall require prior approval of the Railway Board.
Circumstances for engagement of Substitutes
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The process of filling up of vacancies is delayed.
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The posts cannot be kept vacant without adversely affecting the railway services.
Maximum number of Substitutes that can be engaged
Maximum number of Substitutes that can be engaged in a year calculated as on 1st April of the year in erstwhile Group ‘D’ posts :
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10% of the vacancies in case of [a] Safety; [b] Train operations [operating staff of Operating, Mechanical, Civil, S&T and Electrical] and
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2% of the vacancies in other categories.
Chief Personnel Officer [CPO] will calculate the 10% and 2% vacancies at the beginning of each financial year.
Procedure to engage Substitutes in erstwhile Group ‘D’
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Applications addressed to General Manager will be received in General Manager’s office from various sources.
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Committee of three Senior Administrative Grade [SAG] officers, nominated by General Manager, will scrutinize applications and make recommendations which will be put up for approval of General Manager through Chief Personnel Officer[CPO].
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The applications recommended by the Committee will be forwarded to the Personnel Department for verification of certificates, etc.
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After due verification of educational qualifications, certificates etc., the eligible applications along with the requirement of substitutes received from DRMs/Heads of Units, through the Chief Personnel Officer, will be put up for General Manager’s approval, by the Personnel Department.
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Keeping the exigencies of services and suitability of the candidate, General Manager will decide the Department and Division /Unit where the candidate is to be engaged.
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Formal letter of engagement will be sent to the Division /Unit by the Personnel Department.
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To avoid any fraud/impersonation etc., the Division/Unit will get the letter verified/authenticated from CPO’s office and then issue Engagement Letter to the candidate.
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Proper records should be maintained with reference to the number of applications received, number of applications rejected etc. Records of the applications which are no longer required to be retained should be shredded/weeded out.
Pay and allowances
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Substitutes engaged should be paid regular scales of pay and allowances admissible to the post against which they have been appointed irrespective of the nature or duration of the vacancy.
Other benefits
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They should be allowed all the rights and privileges as are admissible to temporary Railway employees on attainment of temporary status on completion of four months continuous service.
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The substitutes who have attained temporary status and have put in one and half years of continuous service should be granted Festival/Flood advances on the same conditions provided they furnish two sureties from permanent Railway servants.
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Substitutes are eligible for medical facilities for self only in the out-patient Department. The service cards etc. of the employee may be utilised as identification cards for this purpose.
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When substitutes are selected for absorption in regular service and sent for medical examinations, the standard of medical examination should be of relaxed standard as prescribed for re-employment during service.
Regularisation
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The conferment of temporary status after completion of four months continuous service does not entitle them to automatic absorption/appointment to Railway service unless they are selected in the approved manner for appointment or absorption to regular posts.
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While regularizing the services of substitutes, age limit for recruitment to erstwhile Group ‘D’ posts may be relaxed to the extent of their total service rendered as substitute which may be either continuous or in broken periods subject to maximum of 40 years not exceeded in case of General candidates, 43 in case of OBC and 45 in case of SC/ST.
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Substitutes who wish to apply for the posts advertised by the Railway Recruitment Boards may be given relaxation in age to the extent of service put in by them, continuous or in broken spells subject to maximum of 40 years not exceeded in case of General candidates, 43 in case of OBC and 45 in case of SC/ST.
Screening of the Substitutes for their absorption in regular service.
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A person who is continued to work as a Substitute for prolonged period shall be considered for regularization of his/her services provided he/she has put in a minimum of 05 [five] years of service.
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A screening Committee should be constituted to screen the substitutes with temporary status for their absorption in regular posts.
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Such screening Committee should consist of at least three Railway Officers of appropriate rank, one belonging to SC/ST communities and another to minority community.
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Screening/Empanelment of substitute for the purpose of absorption in regular employment be restricted to only those who are in the current substitute registers.
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Though no roster is required to be maintained, the intake of SC/ST/OBC while engaging substitutes against each individual category in the various departments should not be below the prescribed percentage of reservation in favour of these communities.
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The Screening Committee should make good shortfall, if any, by resorting to direct recruitment from open market in each erstwhile Group ‘D’ category.
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Screening of substitutes for absorption in regular employment may be made by the Screening Committee with reference to the vacancies available at the material time.
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As long as it is established from records that the substitutes have been enrolled within the age limit, relaxation at the time of actual absorption should be automatic.
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In old cases, where the age limit was not observed, relaxation of age at the time of regular absorption should be considered sympathetically. CPOs /DRMs are empowered to grant such relaxations.
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Substitutes will be eligible for absorption in regular employment only if they fulfill the requisite eligibility criteria for the post in question. Relaxation in educational qualification may be granted by retraining such persons as followed in case of Group ‘D’ staff on implementation of 6th Pay Commission.
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When called for screening, substitutes will be issued passes for their journeys and the period treated as on duty.
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Gaps which may occur in service of Substitutes between two engagements should be ignored for the purpose of temporary status on completion of four months service.
Date of appointment
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The date of appointment of a substitute to be recorded in the Service Book against the column "Date of appointment" should be the date on which he/she attains temporary status after continuous service of four months if the same is followed by his/her regular absorption. Otherwise, it should be the date on which he/she is regularly appointed/absorbed.
Break in service
The following cases of absence will not be considered as "break in service" for determining the four months continuous service for the purpose of absorption in regular employment:
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The periods of absence of a substitute who is under medical treatment with injury sustained on duty covered by the provisions of Workman's Compensation Act.
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Authorised absence (granted by the Supervisory Official in-charge )not exceeding 20 days during the preceding six months.
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Days of rest even under HOER or under the statutory enactments and the days on which the establishment employing the substitutes remains closed will not be counted against the limit of 20 days authorised absence.
Service Register
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A register should be maintained for recording the names of all ''Substitutes'' whenever employed according to the Unit of recruitment, e.g. Divisions, Workshop etc. strictly in the order of their employment at the time of their initial engagement.
MACP benefits for substitutes
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Entire temporary status service of substitutes followed by regularization without break may be taken into account for counting minimum service years for MACP benefits.
Pensionary benefits
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The period of service of substitutes will be counted for full pensionary benefits from the date of completion of four months continuous service provided it is followed by absorption in regular service, without break.
Engagement of Course Completed Act Apprentices as Substitutes
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Diploma/Degree holders trained under the Apprentices Act 1961 in Railway establishments can be considered for engagement as substitutes in Group ‘D’ posts subject to their fulfillment of other instructions.
References