Railways issues clarification on job cuts report, says letters to officials meant for routine performance review

The Railway Ministry on Wednesday clarified that the letters sent to the officials of Railways are to conduct a routine performance review of the employees.

"It is clarified that letters have been issued to Railway zones/production Units, etc., merely by way of reiteration to conduct the routine review of performance of the Railway employees in pursuance of the service conditions laid down under the Indian Railway Establishment Code," the Chief Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Central Railway said in a statement.

The official's statement comes after some media reports stated that the Indian Railways are taking steps towards compulsorily retiring a sizeable number of Railway employees.

Earlier, the railway ministry had written to the heads of all railway zones asking them to review the performance of every employee in their respective zones.

It had also asked managers of each zone to prepare a list of employees who are above 55 years of age in their respective zones.

Previous reports suggested that the Railways, which is the largest employer in the country, was aiming to bring the total strength of its employees to around 10 lakh from the present number which is somewhere between 13-14 lakh.

However, the Railway ministry has now issued a clarification on reports of job cuts saying that the letters sent to officials meant for conducting a routine review of the performance of its employees.