Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SR)

New Delhi, Aug 1: The railway ministry has directed zonal railway offices to compile a list of employees who will complete 30 years service or turn 55 by April 2020.

Ministry sources said that employees found ineligible to continue in service, would be offered premature retirement.

As reported in First Post, a letter from the Railway Board to the zonal offices said, "Zonal railways are therefore requested to furnish the service records of staff in an enclosed proforma, who will be attaining age of 55 years or will be completing 30 years of service qualifying for pension, whichever occurs earlier, in the first quarter of 2020 that is from January to March 2020."

The letter dated July 27 states that the board has set August 9, as the last date for submission of the details. As of now, there are 13 lac employees in the railways and as per sources, the ministry is aiming to reduce it to 10 lac by 2020. The move is part of a periodic review which the railways is undertaking. Employees with unsatisfactory performance, disciplinary issues will be offered premature retirement.

The Lok Sabha was recently informed that in relation to premature retirement clause, the performance of over 1.19 lac Group-A and Group-B officers across government departments had been reviewed between 2014 and 2019.

The zonal officers have to access records of employees mental and physical fitness, attendance and punctuality. Further, there is a section which finds out whether employees are cost-conscious, how they deal with correspondence and his/her discipline needs to be rated.