Promotion in Driver Cadre in RPF/RPSF – Railway Board Guidelines to conduct the selection

Promotion in Driver Cadre in RPF/RPSF – Railway Board Guidelines to conduct the selection

भारत सरकार
रेल मंत्रालय (रेलवे बोर्ड)
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA .
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

No. 2021/Sec(E)/PM-3/1

New Delhi, dated: 05.04.2023

Principal Chief Security Commissioner/RPF
All Zonal Railways, RPSF, ICF, CLW, RCF, KRCL, CORE, RDSO

IG (Con)-ECoR/NR

Director,
JR RPF Academy, TC/MLY & ZTI/KGP

Sub: Guidelines to conduct the selection for promotion in Driver Cadre in RPF/RPSF.

In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 21 of the RPF Act, 1957, RPF (Amendment) Rules, 2021 have been notified and circulated to all concerned vide Railway Board’s letter No.2018/Sec(E)/PM/3/24 Pt. 1 dated 03.08.2021.

Amended Schedule-IV of RPF Rules, 1987 (as amended in 2021) provides for selection for promotion to the post of Head Constable (MT), Assistant Sub-Inspector (MT) and Sub-Inspector (MT) in RPF/RPSF.

Guidelines for the conduct of selection for promotion to the post of Head Constable (MT), Assistant Sub-Inspector (MT) and Sub-Inspector (MT) for Driver Cadre in RPF/RPSF are as under:

1. Eligibility Criteria:

The eligibility criteria for selection for promotion in Driver Cadre is prescribed in Schedule-IV of RPF Rules, 1987.

2. Nomination of Nodal Officer:

1. DG/RPF shall nominate a Nodal PCSC/IG/CSC/DIG or Dy.CSC (whoever applicable) who will supervise the entire selection process and co-ordinate with other PCSCs in order to ensure timely, transparent and smooth conduct of selection.
2. Nodal PCSC/IG/CSC/DIG or Dy.CSC shall fix a common date for issuing notification by all Zones.
3. Instruction of Nodal officer related to selection shall be binding for all zones.

3. Composition of Departmental Promotion Committees (DPC): Nodal PCSC/IG/CSC/DIG or Dy.CSC shall nominate members of the committee as prescribed in RPF Rules, 1987 on the basis of suggestion received from DG/RPF. In addition to the members of DPC, there shall be an expert to be co-opted in the DPC, who should be of higher rank to the post for which selection is being conducted. The expert may be co-opted from RPF/RPSF or Mechanical Department of Railway.

1. One of the members of the DPC should belong to SC/ST community.
2. None of the members of the DPC should be directly subordinate to another member of the said committee.
3. The senior most member of the DPC shall act as the Chairperson. However, the responsibility will devolve on all members of the Departmental Promotion Committee jointly and severally.
4. In every DPC at least one of the members should have working knowledge of Hindi/ Rajbhasha
5. Nodal PCSC/IG/ESE/DIG or Dy.CSC may nominate suitable officers as Members of the DPC from any Zone/RPSF in consultation with DG/RPF.
6. Members of the Departmental Promotion Committee shalt record a certificate that none of their close relation is under consideration for promotion neither do they have any interest in any of the candidates. Close relation in this context would mean parents, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and nephews/nieces, aunts/uncles, cousins & relative by marriage of the first order.

4. Assessment of vacancies:

(i) The number of vacancies, for which selection is to be made shall be calculated in accordance with Rule 70.4 of RPF Rules, 1987 and will be based on roster points in the register earmarked for this purpose.

(ii) Under Rule 70, all the candidates are to be called for the selection who have already completed and are completing the residency period prescribed for that post within the next 12 months from the date of nomination of DPC, subject to the condition that they shall be promoted only on the date of completion of residency period of that rank & also on the basis of the availability of vacancy, DAR & Vigilance clearance. However, under Rule 72 all the candidates shall have to complete the residency period on the date of notification.

(iii) Vacancies are to be assessed correctly. Inflation of vacancies would invite disciplinary
action.

5. Mode of selection: The DPC may conduct written test in offline mode on the basis of a Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) Test. Candidates qualifying the MCQ test shall be considered for assessment of Service Record. MCQ Test will be conducted by an agency hired for this purpose.

6. Engagement of Agency to conduct MCQ Test:

1. Nodal PCSC/IG/CSC/DIG or Dy.CSC in consultation with Chairman DPC shall engage a reputed agency for conducting MCQ Test, having past experience of working with Government departments/RRB/RRC. Due process as mentioned in Railway Board’s letter No. 2021/Sec(E)/PM-01/1 dated 21.10.2021 may be followed for finalization of agency. Chairman DPC shall finalize modalities of terms & conditions and procedure with the nominated/selected agency and make an agreement accordingly. In case of any doubt about the fairness of hired agency, the investigation will be conducted, After the allegations are established, the hired agency will be blacklisted.
2. Financial implication for holding MCQ test and other activities regarding selection shall be processed and arranged by the Nodal PCSC/IG/CSC/DIG or Dy. CSC. The finance of Nodal Officer will be deemed as the associated finance for this purpose. The expenditure incurred on MCQ test and other process shall be shared by all zones proportionately in accordance to the vacancies of the zone.

7. Application by the Candidates:

1. Before applying for promotions under Rule 72, candidates shall assess their suitability for the subject selection in accordance to the extant rules.
2. For promotions under Rule 70, eligible candidates shall submit their unconditional willingness/unwillingness for the said selection.
3. The mode of application shall be offline.

8. Centre of MCQ Test: Chairperson DPC shall decide the centre/centres as per number of candidates.

9. Identity of candidates: The list of applicants, who are found eligible to appear for selection shall prepared by the Zonal Railways and forwarded to the Chairperson DP —~TFhe-Chairperson shall consolidate the list and forward to the agency for allotment of Roll Numbers. List of candidates, on a proforma prescribed by Chairperson DPC, shall be circulated by concerned PCSCs at Post level and shall also be uploaded on Zonal Railway’s website. The list of candidates should have column for Name and UIN of the candidate, date of appointment, date of enlistment, zone and other relevant information like number of chances availed till date, etc. All candidates shall bring their Official photo identity card, in addition to the command certificates, bearing their signature for identification, to prevent impersonation. It shall be the responsibility of concerned PCSC to ensure that all candidates are provided with official photo identity cards in addition to command certificates bearing their signature authentication when they come for MCQ test.

10. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) Test:

1. The MCQ examination shall be of 90 minutes duration. Date and timing of MCQ test in all zonal railways shall be same. If in any zone, number of candidates cannot be accommodated
   in One test centre, two or more centers should be engaged.
2. Venue and timing of the MCQ test shall be fixed in consultation with the hired agency depending upon the number of candidates.
3. The hired agency shall make all the logistic arrangements including CCTV recordings.
4. The Nodal Officer shall nominate RPF officers not below the rank of Sr. Scale to act as Observer at examination centre. The Observers may take one Group ‘C’ ministerial staff of his/her choice as Supervisor to assist him/her during MCQ test.
5. All the officers nominated as Observer as well as Supervisors shall submit a certificate that none of their family members/close relations are appearing for the said selection and that they have no interest in any of the candidates.
6. An attendance sheet for all the candidates appearing in the MCQ test shall be prepared which shall carry the signature of the candidates and the invigilators. Attendance taken will be shared with PCSCs in due course.
7. The entire sequence of the events in the MCQ test shall be video graphed/recorded on CCTV cameras as evidence for future record.
8. The Observer shall ensure that the candidates do not take any book, paper or electronic device which may be used as an unfair means into the examination hall.
9. Any candidate, invigilator or any other personnel of RPF found using / helping anyone to use unfair means or indulging in any other misconduct shall be dealt under the Discipline and Appeal Rules.
10. No candidate will be allowed to enter the examination hall beyond the stipulated time notified by DPC.

11. Trade Test: Allocation of marks for Trade test shall be as under:

However, the Trade test will be “qualifying” in nature and marks obtained in trade test will not be counted towards assessing the total marks obtained by the candidate in the selection. The qualifying marks will be 60% for General/UR candidates and 50% for SC/ST candidates. Video  recording of the Trade Test shall be ensured.

12. Documentation: All the examination related works should be done with proper documentation, avoiding verbal orders at any stage of the selection process. Confidentiality must be maintained in the entire process.

13. Consideration of members under suspension or against whom departmental criminal proceedings are pending: The members of the Force who are under suspension, against whom a charge sheet has been issued and disciplinary proceedings are pending and those against whom prosecution under criminal charge is pending, shall also be called for selection and their suitability for promotion should be assessed as in the ordinary course. In this regard procedure and guidelines provided in DOP&T rules may be followed.

14. Questions for MCQ Test:

1. All questions will be ‘Objective Multiple Choice Type’ with four alternative responses (answers). All questions will be in both Hindi and English. All questions shall carry equal marks i.e. 1 (one) mark each.
2. Questions shall be arranged in such a way that each candidate gets the same set of Questions and has same four options for answers but both the Questions and the Answers are differently serial numbered. This will ensure that no two candidates will have the same sequence of Questions. Not only this, sequence of four options for answers shall be different for different candidates. This arrangement will leave no scope for candidates for copying with each other.
3. The question paper for written examination shall be prepared by the Chairman DPC. The question paper shall consist of 80 questions and candidates should be asked to attempt all questions. Questions shall be of following nature:a.
   1. 8 questions will be on official language policy and rules.
   2. 30 questions will be aimed at testing the candidate’s knowledge in respect to Motor Vehicle Act/Rules and Motor Mechanics.
   3. Remaining questions i.e. 42 questions should be aimed at testing professional knowledge of the candidate. questions on RP (UP) Act, Railway Act, RTI Act, Crime on Railways, General Organization including RPF Act 1957, RPF Rules 1987, Disaster Management and Fire Fighting, First Aid, Explosives and IEDs (FFIED), Working of Commercial and other Railway departments, Social Psychology, Soft skill Management or any other relevant topic etc. should be asked.
4. In accordance with the instructions and guidelines, Chairperson DPC shall set question papers based on the topics mentioned as above.
5. Candidates shall be awarded 01 (one) mark for each correct answer. However, 1/3 mark will be deducted for each incorrect answer (negative marking) in case of selection under Rule 72. No mark shall be awarded or deducted for questions not attempted.

15. Evaluation :

1. Evaluation shall be done by the hired agency.
2. After end of MCQ test, answer key shall also be provided so that candidate can match their answers.

16. Supplementary test:

i) Supplementary tests are required to be held only for selections to be held under Rule 70 for candidates who fail to appear in the test for the following reasons inter-alia other administrative compulsions:

a) Delayed receipt of notice of selection/examination by the candidates on account of deployment in remote areas and distant locations

b) Failure on the part of administration to spare the candidates in time to appear in the examination.

c) Concerned member of the force remaining on sick list duly complying with the provisions as envisaged in Rule 272 of RPF Rules, 1987.

d) Any other reason as deemed genuine by the Chairperson DPC, the reason should be recorded in writing.

ii) Members of the force who express their unwillingness in writing at any stage shall not be called for supplementary test nor any supplementary test is required to be held when all the members of the force falling within the zone of consideration either take the test or submit unwillingness in writing.

iii) The date of supplementary test which ideally should be held within one month of the first test, shall be notified along with the notification for the main selection.

iv) Any intentional non-appearance in the examination or false sick reporting and non compliance of provisions of Rule 272 of RPF Rules, 1987 with an intention to delay the completion of the selection process and holding a supplementary selection shall be viewed as a misconduct and will attract disciplinary proceedings.

v) The supplementary meeting of the Selection Board should as far as possible, be attended by the same officers who would have been present at the first selection.

vi) Not more than one supplementary selection due to non intimation/late intimation of dates of tests, administrative failure to relieve the staff for the test, etc., shall be held.

vii) No supplementary test shall be held for selections to be held U/R 72.

17. Records of Service:

1. Within 15 days of circulation of list of eligible candidates, concerned PCSCs shall forward APAR records of preceding 05 years of all the candidates of their zone to DPC.
2. As provided under Rule 71.2 of RPF Rules 1987, a maximum of 20 marks is allotted to assessment of record of service.
3. PCSCs shall supply attested photo copies of APARs to the selection committee. PCSC shall further certify that all copies of supplied APARs have been provided to the staff concerned and their representations, if any, have been disposed off.
4. The record of service shall be assessed by taking into consideration the APARs or the annual assessment entries in the CSR of preceding 5 years of those candidates who qualify MCQ test. Marks shall be allotted for the APAR grading as per following norm:
   

   Grading	Marks Allotted
   Outstanding	04
   Very Good	3.5
   Good	03
   Average	2.5
   Below average	0

5. When one or more APARs have not been written for any reason during the relevant period, the DPC should consider the APARs of years preceding the period in question. If, in any case, even these are not available, the DPC should take the APARs of lower grade in to account to complete the number of APARs required to be considered. If this is also not possible, all the available APARs should be taken in to account.

18. Preparation of Selection Proceedings and Panel:

1. The selection proceedings should be drawn up as soon as the examination of record of service is over. There should be no delay in drawing up the proceedings. Drawing of the proceeding should not be left to someone who is not a member of the Departmental Promotion Committee.
2. A Broad sheet containing marks of MCQ test and records of service should be prepared for each zone separately. All three members of the DPC shall prepare and affix their signature on the Broad sheet and the selection proceedings, which she Outline the entire selection process and the manner in which selection was conducted, the position of SC/ST
3. There should be no cutting and overwriting in the proceedings.
4. Strict compliance of the guidelines issued from time to time in respect of reservation in promotion should be adhered to while preparing the promotion panel.

Panel U/R 70:

5. A list of successful candidates in the descending order of seniority shall be prepared from the broadsheet. A panel from amongst the list of successful candidates will be drawn on the basis of vacancies for each zone separately and in compliance of the provisions laid down under Rules 70 and 71 of the RPF Rules, 1987 and extant rules regarding reservation policy.

Panel U/R 72:

6. A list of successful candidates in the descending order of marks shall be prepared from the broadsheet. A panel from amongst the list of successful candidates will be drawn on the basis of vacancies for each zone separately and in compliance of the provisions laid down under Rules 70 and 71 of the RPF Rules, 1987 and extant rules regarding reservation policy.
7. In case two or more candidates secure equal marks out of total 100 marks (80 marks for written examination + 20 marks for record of service) seniority may be taken into consideration in such cases. Thus, the candidate/candidates higher in the seniority shall be placed above his junior in the panel.

19. Approval of the Panel:

1. The recommended panel along with selection proceedings, broad sheets, the sample question paper and correct answers and attendance sheet shall be sent by the Chairman of the DPC to the authority nominating the DPC for approval of the panel in accordance with Rule 70.7 of RPF Rules, 1987. Once the competent authority approves the panel, it should be notified immediately for information of all concerned.
2. In the event of the empanelled successful candidate being found facing disciplinary proceedings or punishment or criminal proceeding, his/her case should be made into a “sealed cover case” in which procedure of DOP&T instructions may be followed.
3. A panel drawn in accordance with the Rules shall remain operative for a period of one year from the date of its approval or till it is exhausted, whichever is earlier. In working out the period of one year as the maximum life of the panel, the period covered by stay Order of the Court, if any, should be excluded.
4. The retention of the name of a member of the Force on a panel will be subject to his/her continued suitability for the post in question. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the removal of the name of the member of the Force from the panel would require specific approval of the authority next above the one which initially approved the panel.
5. A panel once approved should not, normally, be cancelled or amended. If it is subsequently found out that there were procedural irregularities or other defects, which may necessitate amending or canceling the panel, then this should be done after obtaining the approval of the authority next higher than the one that approved the panel.
6. Before ordering actual promotion, the concerned authorities will have to obtain D&AR and Vigilance clearance for those empanelled candidates who are selected for promotion.

20. General:

1. Whenever a DPC is constituted, the Nodal PCSC/IG/CSC/DIG or Dy.CSC shall make available all relevant guidelines and concerned circulars of DOP&T and Ministry of
2. The DPC shall be collectively and severally responsible for the fair and smooth selection process.
3. A checklist, of the events/steps to be followed during the selection process, shall be prepared by the DPC in order to ensure that no step in selection procedure is left out.
4. Any representation, from any of the candidates about the selection not done properly, shall be forwarded to the Chairperson of the DPC who will take necessary action to dispose off the representation.
5. Every effort shall be made by the concerned PCSCs, Nodal PCSC/IG/CSC/DIG/ Dy.CSC and DPC to ensure timely selection and promotion of enrolled members of the Force as well as filling up the vacancies in time.
6. Based on attendance sheet of MCQ test, a remark on physical/digital service record of the concerned RPF staff shall be made that he/she had availed first/second/third/fourth chance for the selection under Rule 72 to the rank of HC(MT)/ASI(MT) on date mentioned.
7. The Nodal PCSC/IG/CSC/DIG or Dy.CSC will nominate one officer under him as the custodian of documents generated during the selection process who will be responsible for their safe custody.
8. The extant retention schedule will be followed for weeding out the documents of selection after expiry of prescribed retention period unless the results are needed for any DAR/vigilance/Criminal case or any ongoing court case.
9. DG/RPF may modify/alter any of the above instructions to meet circumstantial exigencies.

(Sanjay Chander)
Director General/RPF

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