Parliament Question: Skill Development of Railway Employees

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2933 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025 SKILL DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES 2933. DR. C M RAMESH: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has formulated any scheme for skill development and re-skilling of railway personnel in emerging technologies such as high-speed train operations, Al-based maintenance and logistics management and if so, the details thereof; (b) the details of the measures being taken to ensure that contractual employment in railway projects adheres to labour and safety norms; and (c) whether the Government proposes to link railway modernisation with local industry participation and MSME engagement to boost regional employment and economic activity and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (c) : Indian Railways have a comprehensive training ecosystem, which provides different sets of training interventions at various stages of career to ensure skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of Railway Employees. To make this possible, elaborate infrastructure has been developed by the Indian Railways in form of training centres acrossZonal Railways and Production Units. Within a Zone also, training centres are spread out across different locations of Divisions or Workshops. Railway Training Institutes have developed in-house capabilities to design and deliver training programs on various newly adopted rail technologies on railways such as Kavach etc. Detailed training modules have been prepared for relevant categories and clubbed at initial, refresher and promotional stages, laying emphasis on practical aspects which help them in assimilation with related advanced technology, keeping a focus on overall safety and passenger experience. Further, all training modules are reviewed and updated at regular intervals to keep pace with technological advancements and changes in working practices. Advanced and modern training practices like simulator training have been adopted to enhance railway personnel’s preparedness in emergency handling, improve decision-making capabilities, and provides opportunities for continual learning and performance improvement. Indian Railways has also embraced modern e-learning techniques through the iGOT Karmayogi Platform, which hosts a wide range of online learning modules aimed at continuous capacity building of government officials, including railway personnel. These modules cover emerging and domain-specific technologies such as Kavach, High-Speed Rail, Artificial Intelligence applications, logistics management and several other areas critical to railway operations. The platform provides flexible, on-demand access on an anytime, anywhere basis, thereby strengthening the learning ecosystem,enhancing digital skilling, and promoting a culture of continuous professional development across the organisation. In High Speed Rail Systems, railway personnels including from National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) are being imparted specialised training including training abroad in various aspects of operations, maintenance and safety. To further integrate the uses of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML) in day-to-day railway operations, Indian Railways Institute of Signalling and Telecommunication (IRISET), Secunderabad have collaborated with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) for conducting short-duration training courses on AI and ML. Adequate safeguards have been taken to ensure that the labours engaged by the contractors for executing various railway projects engaged by Indian Railways for various projects need to comply with the various provisions including labour and safety norms contained in General Conditions of Contracts (GCC). The same includes compliances to labour norms like Provisions of Payment of Wages Act, Provisions of Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, Provisions of Workmen’s Compensation Act, Provision of Mines Act etc. The contracts also needs to conform to all laws, bye-laws rules and regulations for the time being in force pertaining to employment of local or imported labour and take all necessary precautions to ensure and preserve the health and safety of all staff employed directly or through petty contractors or sub-contractors on the works.Indian Railways is making significant investments to enhance its infrastructure and services on network capacity expansion, new rolling stock, and safety improvements for which, a number of large, medium and small projects have been undertaken. To provide workforce with specialized and diverse set of skills for execution of projects, Railway Centralised Training Institutes (CTIs) have collaborated with their nearby ITIs to introduce railway domained learning modules as part of their existing courses of the relevant trades. The scope of collaboration include hand-holding ITIs in curriculum development, Training of Teachers (TOT) program for ITIs faculty, Faculty support, Lab Support and Field Visits for Students etc. to enhance the visibility of the initiative and enhance employability of beneficiary students. ******