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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Break FAQ?

Q1 Tell me something about the job in Railways in India?
Q2 What is the nature of work ?
Q3.What is the aptitude needed for a job in Railways ?
Q4. What is the remuneration ?

Q1 Tell me something about the job in Railways in India?
A1. The Indian railway system is the largest in Asia and ranks second in the world. The total route length is over 62.3 thousand kilometres. The Indian railways had a modest beginning in April 1853, when the first train journeyed from Bombay to Thane - a total of 35 kilometres. Now, as mentioned earlier, it ranks second largest in the world. The Indian railways have made a remarkable progress in attaining self-sufficiency in equipment. At the beginning of the planning era, the railways were importing 23 per cent of their equipment. Imports of railway equipment have now been brought down considerably. A reorganisation of the geographical jurisdictions of zones and divisions was done in 1996. This reorganisation was done after taking into account the quantum of workload handled by each zone, the traffic flows and easy accessibility to various activity centres. Now the Indian Railway network comprises of nine zones that are directly controlled by the Railway Board, which is at the helm of all the operations. Each zone is headed by a General Manager. The nine zones are: ¨ Central Zone with headquarters in Mumbai ¨ Eastern Zone with headquarters in Calcutta ¨ Northern Zone with headquarters in New Delhi ¨ North Eastern Zone with headquarters in Gorakhpur ¨ North-East frontier Zone with headquarters in Guwahati ¨ Southern Zone with headquarters in Chennai ¨ South-Central Zone with headquarters in Secundrabad ¨ South-Eastern Zone with headquarters in Calcutta ¨ Western Zone with headquarters in Mumbai

Q2 What is the nature of work ?
A2.The Indian Railway Traffic Service This branch of the Indian Railways looks after transportation and commercial matters pertaining to transportation. The branch is therefore divided into two divisions:

* The commercial division: This division handles all commercial responsibilities like ticket checking, catering, administration and management of stations, reservation, announcements on the platforms, etc.
* The operations division: This division deals with controlling movement of trains. Keeping a check on incoming and outgoing trains, detachment or attachment of wagons, etc., are the responsibilities of this division. The posts and promotions differ slightly as per the selection grade. When an officer reaches the senior administrative grade, he or she is given the post of Chief Commercial/Operations Superintendent.
* India Railway Accounts Service This branch of the Railway Services is engaged in handling the accounting and finance operations of the Indian Railways. Working in this branch would entail dealing with financial transactions and hence a thorough knowledge of accounting procedures and related practices would prove an asset for officers who opt for this branch of the Indian Railways. An officer in the senior grade is given the charge of a zone and the post of a Financial Advisor-cum-Chief Accounts Officer. At this post, the officer carries the overall responsibility for accounts for the whole zone.
* Indian Railway Personnel Service As the name indicates, officers in this division handle all matters related to the personnel section like selection, promotions, training, welfare activities, transfers, increments, disciplinary actions and the like.
* Railway Protection Service/ Railway Protection Force This branch of the Indian Railway Services is entrusted with the task of maintenance of law and order on trains and on premises owned and used by the Indian Railways.
* Railway Engineering Services This is the technical side of the Railway Services and is engaged in activities like construction and planning of railway tracks, bridges and buildings. There are branches in this division like the Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers and the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers.

Training for recruits for the Railway Engineering Services is provided at five centralised training institutes. For the selection of mechanical engineers, a Special Class Railway Apprenticeship Examination is held. The chosen candidates are given a four-year probationary training.

Q3.What is the aptitude needed for a job in Railways ?
A3.As in the case of any other government service, a person chosen to work in this field should have the willingness to work in a predetermined hierarchy. Unlike the private sector, hierarchy is adhered to quite closely in the government sector. As the railways are always on the move so are many of its employees. So a person should be prepared to spend time away from home and family. The railways carry an innumerable number of passengers every day. The railway employees are responsible for the safety of the passengers and their belongings. This sense of responsibility should govern each and every action of a railway employee. They should be careful that they do not compromise passenger safety in any manner. In the course of duty, railway employees will have to interact with many people, they should be flexible enough to be able to adapt to different situations and different people. But while doing that they should be governed by an inner discipline, which will ensure that they stick to their responsibility towards railway users and the department.

Q4. What is the remuneration ?
A4.The varied operations of the Indian Railways provide openings in many areas and can accommodate persons of various capabilities. However, despite having so many divisions, cadres, etc., the prospects, promotions and remuneration are at par in all the divisions. Remuneration for railway officers is fixed by the Government and follows the pattern of all other civil services. Other benefits attached to the railways are facilities like travel allowances, educational facilities, housing facilities, pension, health care, free railway passes and so on.

Indian Constitution

The term preamble refers to preface, preliminary statement or introduction. In the Indian Constitution, the Preamble deals with the aims and objectives, the targets and ideals and the basis and foundation of the Indian Constitution. It is correlated with the Objective Resolution passed by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947.

The preamble states that "We, the People Of India, have solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic and to ensure to all its citizens: Justice-social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation.

Indian Constitution

Significant Features
The significant features of the Indian Constitution are of two types. There are some features which exist only in the Indian constitution, while there are other features which even though can exist in other Constitution, are distinctively important.

Unique Features

Framed By The People Of India
The Constitution has been framed by the representatives of the people of India through a Constitution Assembly during 1946-49.

Derived From Various Sources
It has been derived from various sources. The various provisions derived are Fundamental Rights and Supreme Court from the USA, Directive Principles Of State Policy from Ireland, Emergency from Germany, Distribution of Legislative powers from Canada and Parliamentary Institutions from United Kingdom.

Sovereignty Of The People
The Constitution propagates the people of India to be the supreme authority. It means the people of India are not secondary to any other external agency.

Republican Polity
The Constitution proclaims India to be a republic.

Secular Polity
The Constitution declares India as a secular nation. It clearly specifies there should not be any discrimination on the basis of religion and all religion should be treated equally.

Fundamental Rights And Duties
The Constitution provides for Fundamental rights and duties. The fundamental duties were included into the constitution through an amendment in 1976.

Other Features

Comprehensive Document
The Constitution is a comprehensive document with 395 articles and twelve schedules.

Parliamentary Democracy
It advocates India to have a Parliamentary form of government. In parliamentary democracy, members are selected b the way of elections.

Federal Form Of Polity
It advocates a federal form of government. But even after the setting up of a federal form of government, some critics have expressed dissatisfaction, calling it a Unitary Constitution.

Fundamental Rights

* Right to Equality
* Right to Freedom
* Right against Exploitation
* Right to Freedom of Religion
* Cultural and Educational Right
* Right to Constitutional Remedies
* Saving of Certain Laws

Fundamental Duties

* To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem
* To cherish and follow the noble ideas which inspired our national struggle for freedom.
* To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
* To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so.
* To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
* To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture.
* To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures.
* To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform
* To safeguard public property and to abjure violence
* To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity, so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement.

Directive Principles of State Policy

* State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people.
* Certain principles of policy to be followed by the state.
* Organization of village panchayats.
* Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases.
* Provision for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.
* Living wage, etc., for workers.
* Uniform civil code for the citizens.
* Provision of free and compulsory education for children.
* Promotion of education and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections.
* Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health;
* Organization of agriculture and animal husbandry.
* Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wild life.
* Protection of monuments and places and objects of national importance.
* Separation of judiciary from executive.
* Promotion of international peace and security.

Indian Agriculture

Before Independence
Mr. R.Strachey who headed the 1880 Famine Commission, suggested the setting up of a department of agriculture in every province. Thus a new secretariat was formed in the centre in 1881.Following which some prominent provinces like Bombay, Madras, UP, Bengal, Assam and Punjab paid greater attention to agriculture and other related fields. The agriculture sector was backward and lacked scientific approach. To improve the condition of the agricultural sector the centre appointed Mr. JA Voeleker in 1889 as agricultural chemist. Years of extensive research resulted in the setting up of Agricultural Research Institute at Pursa, Bihar (in 1903).

In spite of the best efforts by the government, the productivity remained low. So the government set up the Royal Commission on Agriculture in 1926.Based on their findings the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) was formed and during the period agricultural flourished. But during the period from World War II to Independence agricultural suffered setbacks. The famine of 1943 resulted in the death of millions.

After Independence
The partition of the country in 1947 had a negative impact on Indian agriculture. But the formation of Planning Commission in 1950 and the ad vocation of economic planning through five year plans, gave greater importance to agricultural growth and the agricultural sector gained in prominence. The government backed the agricultural sector by the way of research and by setting up Commodity Committees. The first agricultural university was set up in 1961 at Pantnagar in UP.

In the 1950' and 1960's improved agricultural practices, better seeds and use of fertilizer, soil and water conservation, land development, land consolidation, agricultural credit and marketing and price incentive resulted in improved agricultural productivity.

Green Revolution
The Green Revolution is referred to the period between 1967 to 1978.The population was growing faster than the rate of food grain production at that period. The government realized the need for dramatic improvement in food grain production. This resulted in the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution concentrated on:

* Continuous Increase Of Farming Areas.
* Double Cropping Existing Farmland.
* Using genetically modified seeds.

During the 1980's in spite of three years of scanty rainfall and a drought during the middle of the decade, India managed without large scale food imports, because of the increase in food grain production and the existence of a large buffer stock insulating against any agricultural crisis. By the 1990's India had attained self sufficiency in food grain production, because the rate of increase in food grain production has kept pace with the increase in population. This is directly the result of Green Revolution, improved seeds and fertilizers, better irrigation and increased awareness among the farmers. But on the flip side the Indian agriculture is still dependant on the monsoon and the fortunes of the agriculture sector vary according to the monsoon.