The Bangladesh Railway (BR) authority is yet to get back its full strength to operate over 300 trains as 50 per cent of key posts at operational level have been lying vacant for long, officials said.
Although nearly 9,000 people were recruited in last five years, they said, the authority is yet to fill all the vacancies for locomotive masters, station masters, guards, point men, booking assistants, travelling ticket examiners (TTE) and train controllers.
These posts fell vacant as more than 10,000 experienced hands of the state-owned rail agency were sent on forced retirement, known as golden handshake, since 1992.
Officials said the rail authority has filled 70 to 80 per cent of the vacancies by recruiting class III and class IV employees since 2010. But 40 to 50 per cent of posts at operational level still remain vacant, they added.
The BR has been grappling with multiple problems since the country's independence. Shortage of manpower results in accidents mainly at rail crossings, derailments and disruptions in train schedules.
Even the authority had to close many railway stations and stop train services in the past due to manpower crisis.
The BR has now 40,264 staff members, 90 per cent of which are class III and class IV employees. The government in 2010 made a requisition for 13,812 people for the railway.
There are 25 types of posts of class III employees and 11 types of class IV employees who are stationed in 925 destinations that are divided into east and west zones.
Official sources said manpower crisis had mounted following stoppage of the recruitment process for more than 10 years after golden handshake while another group of experienced staff of the railway also went on retirement.
"On an average, 5.0 per cent of the existing staff go on retirement every year. As recruitment remained totally stopped for 10 years, 50 per cent more posts fell vacant during the period, creating extra pressure on the BR to run its 329 rail network," said an official involved in recruitment.
He also said as the capacity building and expertise in running the multidisciplinary railway sector is time-consuming, the BR is still struggling to develop the capacity of newly recruited people.
BR director general Amjad Hossain told the FE that the vacancy in the railway sector should not be considered as like as other sectors as full recruitment cannot ensure the efficiency of service.
"All new recruitments have to receive training for at least two years to understand the railway system and more than 10 years to develop skills at different levels," he added.
According to sources, 1,772 people were recruited to fill various posts of class III employees while 7,200 people to fill posts of class IV employees in phases since 2010.
The process is on to recruit 423 and 2,433 more employees of class III and class IV respectively.
Official data show that BR still needs 604 station masters of different levels, even though 601 people were recruited for the post.
Besides, the process is on to recruit 1,150 locomotive masters against the demand for 1,205 while 268 guards against 506, 1,019 points men against 1,445, 457 booking assistants against 626, 188 TTEs against 255 and 39 train controllers against the demand for 52.
The BR has 65,000 permanent posts which were cut to 40,000 through golden handshake and terminations since the Ershad regime aiming to reduce losses incurred by the state-owned agency.
When the Awami League government came to power in 2009, the railway sector was declared as thrust sector. It also resumed the recruitment process with making requisition of 13,812 people.
The BR has 548 officer level posts which are filled through six cadres such as audit and account, admin, engineering, transport, medical and police.
A senior BR official said freshers are sent to get initial training for two years to understand the railway system. A locomotive master needs 10 years and independent stationmasters eight years to improve their skills, he added.
smunima@yahoo.com
