ISLAMABAD: The government has allowed the ministry of railways to fill 2,031 vacant regular technical posts of different categories ranging from BPS 01 to BPS 11 on the entire system of Pakistan Railways.

According to the spokesperson of the ministry of railways, the posts vacant in different departments including civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, transportation, commercial, signal engineering, telecommunication engineering and workshop division, will be filled within six months.

Pakistan Railways needs additional 23,000 employees, and initially it plans to recruit 10,000 employees on merit, for which approval of the prime minister has been sought, Minister for Railways Shaikh Rashid Ahmad said.

Though no further details have been released by the ministry of railways, it is assumed that the approval of 2,031 posts is part of 10,000 posts which the ministry needs to fill in Pakistan Railways.

Pakistan Railways is one of the premier public sector organisations of vital importance given Pakistan’s geo-strategic location and it is also one of the largest employers in the public sector.

Till June 2017, Pakistan Railways had 73,276 persons on its pay rolls. Out of this number, 20,151 (27.50 per cent) were employed in the civil engineering department, which maintains track and buildings; 21,430 (29.25pc) in the mechanical department which repairs and maintains the rolling stock; 10,094 (13.77pc) in the transportation department which controls guards, station masters and yard staff; 2,911 (3.97pc) in the commercial department which controls passenger ticket offices, freight depots and luggage.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2018