Railways to hire 200,000 in 6 months

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that her ministry would clear the backlog of two lakh vacancies countrywide within six months and the process was already on for class III posts.

"My ministry is trying to clear the backlog of 200,000 vacancies in railways countrywide within six months," Banerjee said at a function at Kharagpur.

She laid the foundation of a centre for excellence in wagon prototyping, advanced loco pilot training centre and launching of the 'Alchiki Express'.

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On developing the anti-collision device, she said it was '99 per cent complete' and almost ready for commissioning.

Stating that the railways had incurred a loss between Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) and Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) in last two years due to bandhs and blockades of trains, Banerjee said, "How can the railways run high-speed trains if such things take place?"

The problem existed at many places, including jungalmahal areas, Banerjee said.

"We want to run high-speed trains, but such bandhs and blockades pose serious difficulties."

On providing rail connectivity at Lalgarh in West Midnapore district, Banerjee said, "Till the situation there turns normal, we can't conduct a survey for laying tracks."

Budgetary allocations have already been made for providing rail connectivity between Lalgarh and adjoining areas, she added.

The Railways had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, for setting up a centre for railway research, Banerjee said.

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The IIT would provide technical knowhow and support to the railways to introduce high-speed trains and developing the wagon prototyping unit.

"Since IIT is a knowledge industry, the railways will tie up with the IIT for launching a technology express which will interconnect the IITs in the country and exchange technical ideas," she said.

The railway minister said the wagon prototyping project would come up at Kharagpur at a cost of Rs 117 crore (Rs 1.17 billion) where different types of freight wagons would be manufactured.

"Railways are required to develop freight wagons and a dedicated freight corridor will permit bigger wagons with higher payload capacity," Banerjee added.

The advanced loco pilot training centre, she said, would train up 90 loco pilots at a time.

The railway minister said that as a puja gift, railways will introduce a Howrah-Digha Duronta Express train before the pujas.

The railways, she said, had allocated Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) for development of the Kharagpur railway colony.