Survey for construction of new line from Jogighopa - Guwahati via Barpetta, Sarthebari (136 Km.) has been completed. The project could not be taken forward due to low traffic projection.

Proposals/requests/suggestions/representations, both formal and informal for Railway projects/Works across the country are received on the basis of demands raised by State Governments, Members of Parliament, Ministries of Central Government, elected representatives, Railways’ own requirements,

organizations/rail users etc. at various levels including Railway Board, Zonal Railways, Division Office etc. As receipt of such proposals/complaints/suggestions is a continuous and dynamic process, centralized compendium of such requests is not maintained. However, these are examined and action as found feasible and justified is taken from time to time.

In last 3 years (2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and current Financial Year i.e. 2024-25), 21 surveys (17 New line & 04 Doubling) of total length 2,499 km falling fully/partly in the North East Region including the State of Assam, have been sanctioned.

Further, as on 01.04.2024, 18 Railway projects (13 New Lines and 05 Doubling), of total length of 1,368 Km, costing Rs.74,972 crore falling fully/partly in the North East Region including the State of Assam, are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 313 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.40,549 crore has been incurred up to March 2024.

The status of work is summarized as under: -

Plan Head	No. of projects	Total Length  (in Km)	Length Commissioned (in Km)	Expenditure upto March, 2024 (Rs. in Cr.)
New Lines	13	896	81	34,616
Doubling	5	472	232	5,933
Total	18	1368	313	40,549

Zone-wise/year-wise details of all Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website.

Average Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and other works, falling fully/ partly in North East Region including the State of Assam is as under: -

Period	Outlay
2009-14	Rs.2,122 Crore/year
2024-25	Rs.10,376 Crore (Nearly 5 times)

Commissioning of infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the North East Region including the State of Assam is given below: 

Period	New Track Commissioned	Average Commissioning of new tracks
2009-14	333 Km	66.6 Km/year
2014-24	1728 Km	172.8 Km/year (Nearly 3 times)

The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, deposition of cost share by State Government in cost sharing projects, priority of projects, shifting of infringing  utilities,  statutory  clearances  from  various  authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project(s) site, number of working months  in  a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions etc.

Various steps taken by the Government for speedy approval and implementation of Railway projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti units

(ii) prioritization of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels, and (vi) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and Wildlife clearances and for resolving other issues pertaining to projects. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

(d) Occurrence and filling up of vacancies are a continuous process on Indian Railways considering its size, spatial distribution and criticality of operation. Adequate and suitable manpower is provided to cater to the regular operations, changes in technology, mechanisations and innovative practices. The vacancies are filled up primarily by placement of indents by Railways with Recruitment agencies as per operational and technological requirements.

After easing of restrictions imposed on account of COVID 19, two major examinations involving more than 2.37 crore candidates have been conducted successfully during 2020 to 2022.

Exam	Candidates	Cities	Centres	Days	Shifts
L2 - L6	1.26 cr	211	726	68	133
L1	1.1 cr	191	551	33	99

 

Based on these exams, 130581 candidates have been recruited in Railways.

The RRB examinations are quite technical in nature entailing large scale mobilization of men and resources and training of manpower. Railway overcame all these challenges and successfully conducted the recruitment in a transparent manner following all laid down guidelines. No instance of paper leakage or similar malpractice has occurred during the entire process.

Recruitment done in Indian Railways during 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 vis-à-vis during 2014-2015 to 2023-2024 is given as under: -

Period	Recruitments*
2004-2005 to 2013-2014	4.11 lakhs
2014-2015 to 2023-2024	5.02 lakhs

* Including Level-1 and security related posts.

Further, as a system improvement, the Ministry of Railways has introduced a system of publishing annual calendar from 2024 for recruitment to various categories of Group ‘C’ posts. The introduction of annual calendar will benefit the aspirants in the following manner:

•   More opportunities for candidates;

• Opportunities to those becoming eligible every year;

• Certainty of exams;

• Faster Recruitment process, Training and Appointments

Accordingly, ten Centralized Employment Notifications (CENs) for 92116 vacancies have been notified during January to December 2024 for filling up of posts of Assistant Loco Pilots, Technicians, Sub-Inspectors, Constables in Railway Protection Force (RPF), Junior Engineers (JEs)/ Depot Material Superintendent (DMS)/ Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant (CMA),

Paramedical Categories, Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate), Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under-Graduate), Ministerial & Isolated Categories and Level-1.

For four notifications, Computer Based Tests (CBTs) have been completed from 25.11.2024 to 30.12.2024. The details are as under: -

Exam	Candidates	Cities	Centers	Days	Shifts
1st Stage CBT for the post of ALP (18,799 vacancies)	18,40,347	156	346	5	15
CBT for the post of RPF-SI (452 vacancies)	15,35,635	143	306	5	15
1st Stage CBT for the post of JE/DMS/CMA (7,951 vacancies)	11,01,266	146	323	3	9
CBT for the post of Technician (14,298 vacancies)	26,99,892	139	312	9	27

 

In addition, Computer Based Test for RPF CEN No. 02/2024 (4208 vacancies) for the post of Constable has started from 02.03.2025 onwards. 2nd Stage Computer Based Test (CBT-II) for CEN No. 01/2024, for the post of Assistant Loco Pilot is scheduled on 19.03.2025 and 20.03.2025.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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Dharmendra Tewari/Shatrunjay Kumar

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