Indian railway is a massive organisation consisting of 12Lakhs employees, 20 thousand officers, 17 Zonal Railways, Production units, Hospitals, Depots etc.
For the smooth working of these massive units, Indian Railways is bifurcated into various departments. There are some Technical departments, some Non-Technical departments and a Medical department.
The Technical departments are responsible for Smooth Running of Trains as per various Technical parameters. The technical departments have a pool of Engineers ranging from Senior Section Engineer to Junior Engineer to Technicians to Group-D staffs. These all types of workforce are distributed among the various sub departments as per asset maintenance.
A) Technical Departments are further divided as follows:-
The various Technical departments are as:-
- Engineering department:- It is one of the major departments of Indian Railways. It has the highest number of employees and maintains huge assets of railways. The construction of railway stations, rails, sleepers, employee quarters, colonies, roads in colonies, water supply at station and railways colonies. The most important activity among them is the maintenance of tracks.
- Electrical Department- The importance of Electrical engineering has increased manifold over the years. It is due to the massive electrification of various routes. Due to electrifications, the electrical engines were deployed in such sections which are again managed by the electrical department. Apart from this, the loco sheds were created for the maintenance of electric loco. Also, electrical engineers provide the general lighting facility at railway stations, colonies and trains.
- Signal and Telecom Department- The signals are installed at stations for safe and smooth movement of trains. Signals ensure that many trains run on a daily basis in busy yards through the interlocking principle. Also, the telecommunication facilities such as telephone, internet, CCTV, public address system, coach guidance system are provided by this department.
- Mechanical Department- The mechanical department ensures the coaches and wagons are maintained to the fullest potentials. The overhauling of these is carried out in carriage and Wagons depots. There are various diesel engines which are maintained by the mechanical department. Apart from this, the Accident relief train is also maintained by the mechanical department.
- Stores Depot- The stores depot in railways is a major department. It is the purchasing department. It purchases the various day to day items as well as items of heavy machinery and other international purchases are carried out by them. Stores department is also responsible for the disposal of scrap and its selling.
B) NON-TECHNICAL DEPARTMENTS:- the various non-technical departments carry out day to day running of trains, salary and pension issues, personal issues and security at stations. The carious non-technical departments are as under:-
Operating department– the operating department is responsible for the punctual running of trains. It has station masters at stations and controllers in the control room to manage the train running. As railway earns mostly from goods trains, they also manage the running of goods trains. Also, they coordinate with various railway sidings for increasing railway revenue.
Commercial department- It is revenue collection department of Indian railways. They have TTE, booking clerk, reservation clerks under them. They also coordinate with advertisers and bring revenue to the railway. Recently many trains were branded by various companies these are carried out by the commercial department.
Personal department- They look after the staff issues. They are responsible for transfer posting, interaction with trade unions, salary prepration of staffs, leave and encsasgments, Pass/PTO. They have a major role of keeping the entire huge workforce of railways together.
Accounts department- It is a small department but does most of the important functions. They are responsible for the passing of bills, salaries, maintaining railway books, calculating profit and loss and ensuring undue expenses in railways are avoided.
Railway Protection Force- It is a police force of Indian Railways. They are responsible for protecting the stations against all security issues. They check the unauthorized vendors, travellers etc. They also coordinate with state police for maintaining peace and harmony at railway premises.
C) MEDICAL DEPARTMENT- The medical department consists of railway hospitals and other subunits for providing medical facilities to the railway’s large workforce. They carry out the following functions:-
- To attend Railway accident & other untoward incidences
- To attend the hospital shift duties for attending to railway employees, officers their dependents.
- Pre-employment Medical examination to allow only fit & suitable candidates to join the services.
- PME (Periodical Medical Examination) of serving employees to allow fit persons to continue in those jobs which are related to the safe running of the train.
- To ensure the safe water supply at Railway Station:
- To constantly check on the quality of drinking water and food made available at Railway Stations.
- Certification of dead bodies at Railway Station, Railway Yards, Railway line etc
- Certification of perishable goods in Railway Station about their disposal.
The above departments work in close coordination for the development of railways in particular and our great country in general. We should be fell proud to have such a grand old organization with so many departments and sub-departments working amicably and being a lifeline of our nation.