NFIR

National Federation of IndianRailwaymen 3, CHELMSFORD ROAD,NEWDEI-HI- 110055 Affiliatedto : . lndian NationalTradeUnionCongress(INTUC) InternationalTransportWorkers'Federation(lTF)

Dated:2510612016

No.II/34lPart 14 (E), TheSecretary RailwayBoard, NewDelhi DearSir,

Sub: Nationalseminaron 'Safety in Indian Railways - Role of S&T Department' heldon 28'hMay 2016at Secunderabad, SouthCentralRailway- reg. Ref:

RailwayBoard'sletterNo. 2013/E(LR)Ill/REFAllFIR/5 dated1310512016. * rt<* {
TheNationalSeminaron osafetyin lndian Railways- Role of S&T Department' was 1

successfully heldat Secunderabad on 28tnMay 2016. ShriA.K. Mital, ChairmanRailwayBoard inaugurated the Exhibitionaswell theNationalSeminar. A reporton the successful conclusionof the NationalSeminartogetherwith a copy of Bookletcontainingconclusions as well the Pamphletin l5 sheetsdescribing the Roleof S&T Department in lndianRailwaysand "A MEMOIR" are sentherewithfor takingnecessary action by theRailwayMinistryon theconclusions arrivedat in theNationalSeminar.

Yoursfaithfufll DA/As above

'^

CI-N r w l _ -

t' :l

(Dr. M. Raghavaiah) I GeneralSecretary

Copyto theAdvisor(Safety),RailwayBoard,New Delhi. Copy togetherwith the enclosures as statedaboveis forwardedto the ExecutiveDirector(lR), RailwayBoard,New Delhi for informationandnecessary actionplease. to the General Secretaries of Zonal Unions of NFIR. ,/Copy

Fax: 011-23744013,R|y.22382, Phone:O11-23343305, Rly.A30-22283,22626, Telegrar,n : RAILMAZDOR 65027299, Website : www.nfirindia.org [email protected], E-mail: [email protected];

EARLYDETECTION OF HIV/ AIDS- PROLONGS QUALITYOF LIFE

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'National Seminar on Safety - Role of S&T Department" was organized The Historic by the S&T Co-ordination Committee of South Central Railway Employees' Sangh at Rail dalarang Auditorium, Secunderabadon 28thMay, 2016 under the aegis of National Federation of India RailwaymbnCNFIR).NFIR President,GumanSinghpresidedover the Seminar: Shri A.K. Mital, Chairman, Railway Board was the Chief Guest on this occasion. S/Shri Akhil Agarwal, Additional Memo-er(Signal),Ravindra Gupta, General Manager' South Central Railway, Arvind Mittal, Executive Director (Signal), Railway Board, A'K. Gupta, S.C. Railway Additional Ge.reral Manager, M.S. Mahaboob Ali, CSTE, S.P. Sahu, CSO, R'R' Prasad, CPO, Sgulh Central Railway, Ashish Agarwal and Smt. Aruna Singh, Divisional Railway Managers, Secunderabad& Hyderabad Divisions respectivelY,Dr' M' Raghavaiah, General Secretary, NFIR/SCRES and G. Prabhakar Andrew, SCRES President gaced the Seminaras Guestsof Honour and Special Guests. Before commencement of Seminar, the Chairman, Railway Board inaugurated the Exhibition of latest technological gadgetswhich are in use & upcoming. Yoga Stall was also seenwith keen interest by the CRB. NFIR President& General Secretary,General Manager, South.Central Railway & other dignitaries were present at the time of inauguration of exhibition. The Chainnan, Railway Board was accorded warm welcome by playing "Swagatam Dance,,by Kumaii Meenakshi Tushara.The CRB was escortedby RPF Band up to the venue (Rail Kalarang Auditorium). The National Seminarwas inauguratedby the Chairman,Railway Board, A.K. Mital by lighting the lamp in the presenceof NFIR President,General Secretaryand other prominent dignitades. A piesentation ott LED Screenon the "Role of S&T Department" was also made" byth" S&T Coordination Committee of NFIR/SCRES which receivedmany applaudsfrom the dignitaries and the participants. While welcoming the CRB and other distinguished Guests the SCRES President G. prabhakar Andrew said that under the able leadership of Dr. M. Raghavaiah, the NFIR Affrliates have not only been concentrating to resolve the genuine demands of the railway employeesbut equally tle affiliates have been working towards enhancingthe efficiency levels etc' at various zonal of Railway systemsby organizing safety conferences/seminars/workshops have been employees railways and at national level wherein various categoriesof Railway taking part for enhancingsafety consciousness.He suggestedthat to avoid human elrors' safety standardsneed to be improved by upgrading the infrastructure and imparting training in new technologicaldevelopmentstaking place in the field of Signal & Telecommunications' NFIR president Guman Singh in his presidential speechstatedthat despiteincreasein number of trains and speed without enhancing the staff strength commensuratingwith the additional workload, the existing staff continue to perform their duties with great devotion for This ir,rctudesthe staff of S&T Department of various ensuring uninterrupted train r"*i".r. categories.fhe S&f staff-have been facing many challenges as they are required to work

I round the clock' in all seasons under inclement weather conditions. He advised participants/delegates to focuson core,issues d;;it suggestto overcomethe difficulties. He statedthat NFIR will take up all the issues "dut trr. r.i'.r of RailwayBoardto seethat staff problemsare redressed'He further said that NFIR has already projgctedthe problems pertainingto s&T staff beforevariouscommittees and alsot uu. u".i p'.rir"irg continuously for achievingsatisfactory results. shri K' Murali Krishna, convener, s&T coordination committee, south central Railwayand Secretary'S&T and Medical Branch, scRps, Secunderabuo *tit. speaking, explainedthe prevailingpatheticworking conditions or *r. department, stressful dutiesof the staff,domesticproblems,personalhealthof workers etc.He aisomentionedthat thoughthere areno duty rostersin respectof S&T staff, yet thesestaff ensurethat wheelsof the trainsare keptmovingcontinuousry with utmostrur"iy, rp.raunalunctuarity. The S&T coordination committee co-convener & working chairman of s&T and Medical Branchl scRES, secunderabud, g. qt"Lrt, ["i spokeon irarious challengesbeing facedby the personnei.ofs&T Departmentin dayto-day working.He emphasized the needto the on par-with the upgradei technology and further ff:l: ,entry.qualification suggested for lmprovementsand reclassificationof Engineers rut"gory underHbpn besidesstrengthening the RDSOwith more expertise.He drew attention ortrr. cRB towardsthe-surrerings of s&T Staffdueto non-implementation of theapprovedyardstick. shd Akhil Agarwal,Additional (signal),RailwayBoardwhile addressing the frelbel seminarsaid that 'signaling' plays vital role in'rrioom and efficient running of trains in a manner'ensuringsafety' He assuredthat instructions for implementatio'oi duty rostersof s&T Staff will be issuedin due course.He further saidthat Planspresentlyundergoingrelateto signalingmaintenance, thereare Rapid Modernization which transformthe systemfrom the stageof Mechanicalsignaling to Electroiic rnt".to.t ing. At the sametime he stressed the needfor training of staff o.t -oJ.* equipments to handlenew assetsproperly.He informed thatautomaticsignalingsystemswill be develo-n9d indigenouslyandinstalledin all partsof the rail networkin the coming days,which would acilitaE-io control speed,applicationof , brakesautomatically,thus, the enors on account of humanpoint oflrain view can be avoided.In regardto the problemsand welfareof staff he assured that RailwayBoard*iil tur.. necessary steps'At the sametime, he urged that employees shouldwork whole-heartedlyto ensure reliableandefficientservicesto thehavelingpuUti". shri Ravindra Gupta, General Manager, South central Railway in his address complimentedNFIR cadre for organizingthe Jeminar o" gr. importantaspectof safety.He appreciated the effortsof NFIR/SCRESGeneratsecrels Dr. M. Raghavaiah for his devotion and efforts in improving safetyin Railwayr uy orgunli';g the Safetyseminarsfrom time to time' He informedtPl q&T Departmentttur utto.rton" rri*y changessincethe last 15 to 20 years'Shri Gupta said that overheadequipment uri!n-r"tr. are gettingreplacedwith copper and optic fiber cable: that all steps are being tiken to improvethe system.The General Managersaidthat with Td the introductionof multipr! uau*..0 technologies, necessityhasarisen to getthe s&T Staff trainedadequatelyfor-handring trr. ryrtem properly.He furthersaidthat eachemployeeworking at remotelocaiity shoulduo?pi-Jo.m methodsof communication so thattroubleshootingmodulescanbe communicat"o ui tt. quickestpossibletimeto them.

FIehopedthat the deliberationsin the seminarorganizedby NFIR, would paveway in decidingthe policieswhich are requiredto be implementedin S&T Departmentlor ensuiing safeandsecuredtrain operationsin the courseof time. r Dr. M' Raghavaiah,SCRESA{FIRGeneralSecretaryproudly statedthat the staff working in S&T Departmentviz. SSE/JE/ESMA{elpers etc., are skilful having multi faced skill. Detectionof problemsafter verification,maintenance of equipmentsandcertificationare the threephaseslequiredto be executedby thesestaff. He further saidthat this Seminarwill deeplyanalyzethe reasonsfor failures,detentions, requirement of adequate technologicalskills and the stepsneededto be taken to improve safetyand efficiency standardson the Indian Railways.He thankedShd A.K. Mital, Chairman,Railway Board for gracingthe occasion which would motivaterank and file of staff of S&T Departmentto performwith devotion.He also saidthat NFIR is committedfor improvingthe efficiencylevelsand hencewill suitably take up all the issuesbeing deliberatedin the Seminarviz., safety,effrciency,productivity, serviceconditions,working conditionsat appropriate levelsto seethat staff problemsare mitigated. Mentioningthe achievementby NFIR's affiliate SCRESangh,he saidthat it has ensuredgranting overtime allowanceto ESMs of S.C. Railway. He desiredthat the Duty Rostersof S&T Staff would be implementedasper commitmentgivenby the AM (SignaD.He explainedthat SafetySchemewas introducedas a resultof All India Seminarconductedon 20.10.2003by NFIR at Secunderabad. NFIR hadplacedinnovativesuggestions for creation& allocationto CorporateSafetyPlan,CorporateWelfarePlan,NonJapsablesafetyfund.Further he informedthat NFIR has raisedcertainissuespertainingto S&T Staff in RailwayBoard's PNM Meetingvide PNM SubjectNo. 1412010 andafterdiscussions, agreements werereached on spbcific issuesviz. merger of MCM with JE, improvementin careergrowth of S&T categorystaff, placementof 27o/opostsof Maintainersin GP Rs.4200/-,implementationof Yardstickfor creationof additionalpostsof Engineers& Maintainersetc., He requested the Railway Board Chairmanto seethat ordersare issuedon the agreeditems without further delay. NFIR GeneralSecretaryfurther saidthat with the initiative takenby Shri A.K. Mital, CRB, five more safetycategorieswere includedin LARSGESS.He expressed his gratitudeto CRB for his positive responseon staff issues.He admittedthat the dutiesof S&T Staff ard hazardousand arduousin nature and despitemany odds, the S&T staff are performing efficientlyfor ensuringuninterruptedservices. Dr. Raghavaiahfurther saidthat NFIR hasbeentaking all possiblestepsin redressing grievances the of Staff of S&T Department.He saidthat non-implementation of yardstickfor S&T Department is causingseriousagonyamongstaff and requestedCRB to intervenefor implementation. Shd A.K. Mital, Chairman,Railway Board& Chief Guestof the NationalSeminarin his inauguraladdressstatedthat safetyis of paramountimportancein Indian Railwaysand S&T Departmenthasemergedas importantin the questfor achievingzero accidentsandzero failure of assets.At the time of introductionof Railwaysin India, the equipmentusedwas at par with the rail network of EuropeanCountries,6ut subsequently^on accountof non investmentof fundsin technologyand skills, our systemlaggedbehindin comparisonto other countries.Time has now come that we should improve our performancein all the fields. Railway Ministry is undergoinghuge financial crunchfor variousreasons.Despitethis, he assuredthat neededstepswill be taken,whereverrequiredto redressthe issuesconcerningthe S&T workforce.

Indian Railways being cheapest mode of transportation, the common man always prefers traveling in trains. The rail network should be comparableto the best anywherein tfie world and to make it more people friendly, emphasisneedto be on safety in order to seethat the traveling public reachestheir destinationssafely & comfortably, said the CRB. CRB further said that the role of S&T departmentis very vital in ensuringsafety in rail operations and also said that the apprehensionsabout high speed trains in regard to safety, when train speedsare increasedshould be removedfrom the minds. While calling attention of the delegates,he urged the staff that with combinedwisdom the deliberations,suggestionsbe made on the problems and their solutions. He hoped that the deliberationsin the seminarwill be very useful and desired to have the conclusions of the seminar from the organizing committee and whatever useful suggestionswhich can be implemented,will surely be done,hi stated. The Railway Board Chairman also releaseda book namely "A Memoir" preparedby the S&T coordination Committee, South CentralRailway on this occasion.

Rs.2lakh ved famil (Sienal) Kumar. Technican died on dutv on 9.4.2016.

rs of late P.

Shri P.MahenderKumar, Technician (Signal) of SC Division expired while perforrning his night duty on 9.4.2016 in SecunderabadYard. The unfortunati incident prima-facie occurred due to hit by unknown train. Shri A.K.Mital, Chairman, Railway Board presenteda chequeamounting to Rs.2,00,000/-to the bereavedfamily memberscovered under Accidental InsuranceSchemeexclusively introducedby SCRE Sanghfor their members. All the dignitaries were felicitated in a grandmanner. Lecture on Yoqa In the second session of the Seminar, a Lecture on Yoga was ilranged through an eminent Yoga Guru, Smt Aruna to mitigate the stressacquired from the Job, to bring-in a change/reliefin one's lifestyle. Certain Mudras and Aasanasaptto the stressborne by the SAf personnelwere made to practice wherein all the delegatesas well dignitaries took part, which madethe event much educative. DeleeateSession The delegatesessionin the secondhalf startedwith various delegateswho participated from all the corners of the Indian Railways sharingtheir experiencesand views. fni folowlng delegatesdeliberated. 1.S/Shd Sunil Bendale,SSE/SA(alyan& AGS/CRMS 2.8 ajrangi Munilal, MCM/Thane/CR 3.Utpalkant, ESM/G'IL/SCR 4.Vikram Sharma,SSE/T/LudhianaA{R , q. 5. Srinivasulu,ESM/Dhone/SCR 6.8 L Mishra, ESM/WCR

7.Asif Khart, MCM/Bhusaval/CR 8.Hari Om SharanMishra.ESM/Bhopal/WCR 9.G.M. Sharma,JElSnJGP/CR 10.Anwar Basha,JEIS/KCG/SCR I 1. TapanChaudary,JElS/Baroda/WR 12. SumanKumar, SSE/S/Kalvan/CR 13.Alok Saigal,SSE/S/ALDA{CR 14.A. X. Joeseph,MCM/SC/SCR 15.RaghavbndraTiwari, ESMA{CR 16.Alok Chandraprakash,MCM/Ahmedabad/WR 17. Suresh,MCMIKZJISCR The seminar was deliberated on. the career growth, working conditions of safety -seminar _ categoriesstaff in general and S&T Engineers staff iriparticular. The urged upon the Railway Minis{y to concedeon the followins:_ (i)

Yardstick approvedby the R.uilyuyBoard years back shouldbe implemented without further delav and additionalposts of Engineersand Maintainersbe created.

(ii)

VII Centralpay Commissionpay matrix levels should be revised in order to facilitateplacementof Techniciansi.e. ESMs, TCMs, SSEs,JEs etc.,in higher paymatrixlevels. The existing GradePay of JElssE i.e. Rs.4200/-and Rs.4600/-shouldbe

(iii) (iv) (v)

(vi) (vii)

(viii)

(ix)

(x) ci) (xii) (xiii) (xiv)

(xv)

Group-B Gazetted, statusshouldbe accordedto ihe senior SectionEngineers in S&T andotherTechnicalDepartments. Drtty hoursshouldbe limited to 8 hoursfor Engineers as well Maintainersetc., and duty rostershouldbe issuedand overtime"payment shouldbe ensuredfor extrahoursof duty. RestRoomfacility shouldbeprovidedfor S&T staffat way sidestations. The existingavenuesof promotionneedto be revamped so as to see talentedand qualifiedMaintainersgetpromotedto the post gngin.osthat the, or within the reasonable time frame. Training,RetrainingandRefresherTrainingshouldbe imparted regularlyto the Engineersand Maintainersof the S&T departmentas well other Technical Departments. Hard Duty Aliowance& Risk duty Allowancebe considered for thosesafety staff who nelfonl duties inciement weather conditions and adversities in lacing the courseof performingduties. Enhancement of entry qualificationfor Techniciansand Helpersandprovision of avenueof promotions. Redesignate thepostsof S&T Technicians asS&T supervisors. Extendthe benefitsof LARSGESSto all categori.,of ,tuffof s&T Department. GrantingRisk Allowance,Fixedconveyance"Allowance, FailureAllowanceto S&T Staffshouldbe considered. clerical staff shouldbe postedat all officesof SSEsin chargeto maintain stores/officeconespondence work. Extra allowancesshouldbelranted to the concerned in charge,ifclerical staffisnot posted. Member(S&T) postmay be createdat RailwayBoardto analyzetheproblems of S&T Department.

(xvi) Provision of Cell phonesto S&T Staff for safeand punctualpassageof trains. (xvii) Accident free serviceawardshouldbe givento S&T Staff also. (xviii) Colour code of ESM/TCM uniforms shouldbe different from other employees (xix) (xx) (xxi) (xxii) (xxiii) (xxiv) (xxv)

and Helpers.The uniform shouldincludeShoeAllowance. EnsureTime Bound promotionfrom JE to JAG Grade. Abolish New PensionScheme(NPS)in Railways. Safety Jacketsshould be given to Signaling Staff. ESMs shouldbe providedResidentialAccommodationbeforetheir posting. The Staff attendingLC failure shouldbe grantedspecialAllowance. Torch allowanceto ESMs shouldbe revisedfrom Rs.25l-presentlysanctioned. The Cadre restructuring on Ranchi Division, of SE Railway not done - this shouldbe looked into.

Dr M.Raghavaiah, General Secretaryin his concluding addressstated that the points raisedby Delegates/Participantswill suitably be taken up at appropriatelevel in order to get the issuesredressedto the satisfactionof employees. He also explainedsome issueson which already agreementshave been reached but not implemented. NFIR will pursue to see that ordersare issuedon all agreeditems,he said. General SecretaryArlFlR & SCRES appreciated the members of the co-ordination committee for organizing the Seminar in a grand manner.He praised the S&T Co-Ordination Committee, South Central Railway, Secunderabadand particularly Shd K Murali Krishna and Shd G PrabhuRaj, Office Bearersof S&T and Medical Branch/SCRES/SC Division and the entire team for their commitment, devotion and hard work in making the National Seminara grandsuccess. The organizing committee felicitated Shri M.Bharani Bhanu Prasad,who guided and assistedfor the successof the seminar.Kumari Meenakshi Tushara,Bharat Natyam Danseuse was also honoured on the occasion. Smt Aruna, Yoga Guru was felicitated for her lecture on Yoga. The meeting ended with vote of thanksby Shri K. Murali Krishna. * *,1. * {<

,