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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5446
TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026
RECRUITMENT OF AGNIVEERS IN RAILWAYS
5446. SHRI VIJAYAKUMAR ALIAS VIJAY VASANTH:
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has conducted an assessment of long-term
employment sustainability for Agniveers recruited into Railways and if
so, the details of job security, promotion avenues and permanency
provisions thereof;
(b) whether salary parity and service conditions for ex-Agniveers match
existing railway staff in similar posts and if so, the details of
comparative pay structure and benefits thereof;
(c) whether the Government has evaluated the impact of this policy on
existing railway staff and operational efficiency and if so, the details of
measurable outcomes and performance indicators thereof;
(d) whether the contractual engagement of ex-servicemen as Pointsmen
dilute regular recruitment opportunities for civilian candidates and if
so, the details of the justification thereof and safeguards adopted to
maintain recruitment balance;
(e) whether reservation benefits announced under the cooperation
framework are being uniformly implemented across all Railway zones
and if so, the details of recruitment data thereof, zone-wise and if not,
reasons for deviation; and
(f) whether training and skill-mapping mechanisms have been created to
align military experience with technical Railway posts and if so, the
details of the curriculum and implementing agencies thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) to (f) The occurrence and filling up of vacancies in Indian Railways is
a continuous process, considering its size, spatial distribution and
§ Page 1 of 10criticality of operations. Adequate and suitable manpower is provided to
cater to operational requirements, technological changes, mechanisation
and innovative practices, with vacancies primarily filled through indents
placed with recruitment agencies as per operational and technological
requirements.
The details of AGNIPATH scheme for recruitment of Agniveers to non-
gazetted posts in Railways are as under:
A horizontal reservation of 10% in direct recruitment from open
market in Pay Level-1 posts and 5% in Pay Level-2 and above level
posts in various departments (other than RPF/RPSF) is provided to
AGNIVEERS in Railways.
A 10% horizontal reservation in the posts of Constables in RPF/RPSF
Department is also provided.
Reservation is subject to their fulfilling other eligibility conditions for
direct recruitment in Railways to the post.
An age relaxation up to five years for the first batch of Agniveers and
up to three years for subsequent batches of Agniveers over and above
the existing upper age limits for the normal candidates is provided.
Exemption from requirement of qualifying the Physical Efficiency Test
necessary for recruitment in Pay level-1 posts is also provided to
them.
These benefits will be applicable uniformly across all Zonal Railways.
Once recruited they will be governed by the same Service Conditions,
Pay & Allowances as are applicable to normal railway servants
recruited from open market against direct recruitment posts.
The first batch of Agniveers has not yet completed their term of
engagement and retention process as such they are not yet available for
Page 2 of 10appearing in the appointment process on the Railways. Since the
recruitment of Agniveers will be against direct recruitment vacancies,
there will be no impact on the promotional prospects or other service
conditions of the existing railway staff or on the operational efficiency of
Railways.
In direct recruitment in Railways, a horizontal reservation of 20% in Pay
Level-1 and 10% in Pay Level-2 and above posts is provided to Ex-
Servicemen eligible candidates. In addition, Ex-Servicemen are also
considered for engagement on temporary basis as Gatemen and Pointsmen
against short term vacancies till a regularly recruited candidate is
available to ensure smooth progress of developmental and other works.
This is applicable uniformly on all the Zonal Railways.
Recruitment in Indian Railways has been undertaken at a large scale over
the years, and the occurrence and filling up of vacancies continues as an
ongoing process. The details of recruitment are as under:
Recruitment done in Indian Railways during 2004-05 to 2013-14 vis-à-vis
during 2014-15 to 2025-26 is given as under: -
Period Recruitments
2004-2005 to 2013-2014 4.11 lakh
2014-2015 to 2024-2025 5.08 lakh
2025-2026 - till date 42,380
The RRB examinations are quite technical in nature entailing large scale
mobilisation 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.
Page 3 of 10Further, as system improvement, the Ministry of Railways has introduced a
system of publishing the Annual Calendar from 2024 for recruitment to
various categories of Group ‘C’ posts. The introduction of the Annual
Calendar is benefitting 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
Presently, recruitment against 1,43,086 vacancies of non-
gazetted personnel has been taken up on Indian Railways as per
Annual Calendar 2024 and 2025.
During January to December 2024, ten Centralized Employment
Notifications (CENs) for 92,116 vacancies were notified for filling up of
various posts. First Stage/Single stage Computer Based Tests (CBTs)
for these posts have been completed. Details are as under:-
Exam Candidates Cities Languages
1st Stage CBT for the post of ALP 18,40,347 156 15
(18,799 vacancies)
CBT for the post of Technician 26,99,892 139 15
(14,298 vacancies)
1st Stage CBT for the post of 11,01,266 146 15
JE/DMS/CMA
(7,951 vacancies)
CBT for the post of RPF-SI (452 15,35,635 143 15
vacancies)
Page 4 of 10CBT for the post of RPF-Constable 45,30,288 147 15
(4,208 vacancies)
CBT for Paramedical Categories 7,08,321 143 15
(1,376 vacancies)
1st Stage CBT for Non-Technical 58,41,774 141 15
Popular Categories (Graduate) (8,113
vacancies)
1st Stage CBT for Non-Technical 63,27,473 157 15
Popular Categories (Under Graduate)
(3,445 vacancies)
CBT for Ministerial & Isolated 4,46,013 139 15
categories
(1,036 vacancies)
CBT for level-1 posts (32438 1,08,28,261 152 15
vacancies)
Total Candidates 3,58,59,270
The 2nd stage CBTs for the posts of ALP, JE/DMS/CMA and Non-Technical
Popular Categories (Graduate & Under-Graduate) have also been
completed. Details are as below:-
Exam Candidates Cities Languages
2nd Stage CBT for the post of 2,66,363 112 15
ALP
(18,799 vacancies)
Page 5 of 102nd Stage CBT for the post of 1,17,339 118 15
JE/DMS/CMA
(7,951 vacancies)
2nd Stage CBT for Non- 1,21,931 129 15
Technical Popular Categories
(Graduate) (8,113 vacancies)
2nd Stage CBT for Non- 51,978 79 15
Technical Popular Categories
(Under-Graduate) (3,445
vacancies)
Total Candidates 5,57,611
Computer Based Aptitude Test (CBAT) for the post of Assistant Loco Pilots
and Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate Level) and Computer
based Skill Test for the post of Non-Technical Popular Categories
(Graduate and Under Graduate) and Ministerial & Isolated Categories have
also been completed. Details are as under:-
Exam Candidates Cities Languages
CBAT for the post of ALP 1,32,044 84 2
Translation Test for Ministerial 1,233 8 2
and Isolated Categories
CBAT for the post of Non- 13,616 38 2
Technical Popular Categories
(Graduate)
Computer Based Typing Skill 30,341 58 2
Test (CBTST) for the post of
Page 6 of 10Non-Technical Popular
Categories (Graduate-level)
Computer Based Typing Skill 13,145 44 2
Test (CBTST) for the post of
Non-Technical Popular
Categories (Under-Graduate-
level)
Total Candidates 1,90,379
Panels for more than 42,000 candidates for various posts including
Technicians, Junior Engineers, Paramedical Categories, Sub-Inspectors and
Constables in RPF and Assistant Loco Pilots have been finalised, with a
majority in safety categories.
In addition to above, as per Annual Calendar for the year
2025, nine Centralized Employment Notifications (CENs) for 50,970
vacancies have also been issued. Details are as under:-
CEN No. Post Name No. of Month
Vacancies of Notification
notified
01/2025 Assistant Loco Pilots 9,970 March 2025
02/2025 Technician 6,238 June 2025
03/2025 Paramedical categories 434 July 2025
04/2025 Section Controller 368 August 2025
05/2025 Junior Engineer (JE)/ 2,585 October 2025
Page 7 of 10Depot
Material Superintendent/
Chemical & Metallurgical
Assistant
06/2025 Non-Technical Popular 5,810 October 2025
Categories (Graduate)
07/2025 Non-Technical Popular 3,058 October 2025
Categories (Under-
Graduate)
08/2025 Isolated Categories 312 December
2025
09/2025 Level-1 posts 22,195 December
(Including Assistants, 2025
Track Maintainers
and Pointsman -5053
vacancies)
Total 50,970
First stage/Single stage Computer Based Tests (CBTs) for 19,595 posts
have been completed. Details are as under: -
Exam Candidates Cities Languages
1st Stage CBT for the post of ALP 10,03,719 141 15
(9970 vacancies)
CBT for the post of 4,33,748 131 15
Section Controller
Page 8 of 10(368 vacancies)
1st Stage CBT for the post of 5,74,351 133 15
JE/DMS/CMA (2585 vacancies)
CBT for the post of Technician 8,41,525 117 15
(6238 vacancies)
CBT for the post of Paramedical 3,19,396 106 15
Categories (434 vacancies)
Total Candidates 31,72,739
Further, 11,127 vacancies of ALP have been approved for notification in the
Calendar year 2026.
The Agniveers at the end of their engagement period are provided with a
detailed Skill Set Certificate highlighting the skills and level of competency
acquired by them during their engagement period. The Agniveers
(Technical), Agniveers (Clerk/Store Keeper Technical) and Agniveers
(Tradesmen, 10th pass) are some categories of Agniveers which directly
coincide with the skill sets required in Railways.
Indian Railways has a comprehensive training ecosystem comprising
Centralised Training Institutes, Multi-disciplinary Zonal Training Institutes,
Multi-disciplinary Divisional Training Institutes and specialised training
centres. These Institutes provide induction, refresher, promotional and
technical training at various stages of service in Railways. Detailed training
modules are prescribed for respective categories at initial and promotional
stages along with refresher and specialized courses, with emphasis on
practical aspects and regular updation in line with technological changes
in areas such as track safety, communication systems and emergency
handling.
Page 9 of 10Specialized initiatives such as training on Kavach, simulator-based training
and disaster management are also integrated, along with service-
orientation modules covering soft skills, customer care, threat perception,
emergency response, fire-fighting, first-aid and gender sensitisation.
Employees are also encouraged to undertake continuous learning through
digital platforms such as the iGOT Karmayogi portal, and the existing
training framework is leveraged to bridge domain-specific skill gaps and
align manpower with operational requirements.
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