No. AIRF/101
Dated: 25.06.2026
To
The Director General,
Railway Board,
Rail Bhawan,
New Delhi.
Sub:– Request for extending uninterrupted Railway medical facilities to the dependents of serving Railway employees appointed to higher posts through RRB/other selection processes during their training period.
Dear Sir,
AIRF desires to draw your kind attention towards a serious and long-pending grievance affecting a large number of Railway employees who, while already serving on regular posts in Indian Railways, are subsequently selected for higher posts through Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) or other departmental recruitment processes and are placed under training before their regular appointment to the higher post.
It has come to our notice that during the training period on the selected post, such employees are being treated at par with fresh trainees/apprentices and, consequently, their family members/dependents are being denied Railway medical facilities, including inclusion in medical cards and access to free medical treatment. As a result, numerous serving Railway employees and their dependents are facing considerable hardship and are being deprived of a welfare benefit which they had been legitimately availing while serving on their previous regular Railway posts.
In this connection, attention is invited to the provisions contained in Para 602, Section-B, Sub-section (10) of the Indian Railway Establishment Code (Vol.-I), Chapter-VI, wherein medical attendance and treatment facilities admissible to apprentices/trainees have been prescribed. The provisions, inter alia, stipulate that while trainees/apprentices may be entitled to medical facilities for themselves, their family members are generally not covered under the existing rules. The relevant instructions further provide that:
(i) Trade Apprentices governed by the Apprentices Act, 1961, who otherwise fall within the definition of “family members or dependent relatives” of a Railway employee, are eligible for medical facilities according to the status of the concerned Railway employee under normal rules.
(ii) Free medical treatment may also be provided to apprentices, including those governed by the Apprentices Act, 1961, in cases where personal injuries are caused by accidents arising out of and in the course of training.
While these provisions may be appropriate in respect of fresh recruits entering Railway service for the first time, their application to existing Railway employees who have already rendered regular service and earned entitlement to Railway medical facilities appears both inequitable and inconsistent with the welfare-oriented policies of Indian Railways.
The issue assumes greater significance in cases where employees, after serving for several years in regular Railway posts, improve their career prospects through open competitive selection and secure appointment to higher posts within the same organization. During such transition, there is no break in their association with Indian Railways; nevertheless, their dependents suddenly lose access to Railway medical facilities solely because the employee is undergoing mandatory training for the higher post for a specific period.
One such case has been reported from Diesel Loco Modernisation Works (DMW), Patiala. Shri Vipul Bhardwaj, who was working as Technician-III (Crane Driver) under SSE/Shakur Basti, Delhi, applied through proper channel for the post of Junior Engineer and was selected through RRB. During his tenure as Technician-III, he and his family were availing Railway medical facilities as admissible to regular Railway employees. However, upon joining as Trainee Junior Engineer at DMW, Patiala, he has been denied the facility of extending Railway medical benefits to his dependents during the training period.
The matter has become particularly distressing as the employee’s wife is presently undergoing treatment at Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi. At a time when the family requires medical support and assistance, denial of Railway medical facilities has imposed severe hardship and financial burden upon an employee who has continuously served Indian Railways and has merely secured a higher post through a duly approved selection process.
The above case is not an isolated instance. Similar grievances are being reported from different Zonal Railways and Production Units where serving Railway employees selected to higher grades/posts through RRBs or other recruitment channels are being deprived of medical facilities for their dependents during the training period. Such denial adversely affects employee morale and creates an anomalous situation wherein a Railway employee, after earning promotion or higher appointment through merit and competitive selection, finds himself in a worse position than before with regard to family welfare benefits.
AIRF, therefore, strongly urges the Railway Board to review the existing provisions and issue suitable instructions to all Railways and Production Units that employees who were already serving in regular Railway posts prior to their selection to higher posts through RRBs or any other approved recruitment process shall continue to enjoy uninterrupted Railway medical facilities and other facilities for their dependents/family members during the period of training on the higher post.
Such a decision would remove an avoidable anomaly, prevent unnecessary hardship to Railway families, uphold the principles of social security and employee welfare, and reinforce the confidence of Railway employees in the fairness and compassionate approach of the administration.
AIRF, therefore, requests your personal intervention for an early and favourable decision in the matter.
Yours faithfully,
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
General Secretary
Copy to:
General Secretary, All affiliated Unions of AIRF – For information.
