Indian Railways and Indian Army have launched a “Framework for Cooperation” under an important initiative. The main objective of this framework is to provide smooth transition to Agniveers and serving/retired military personnel into civilian life after military service and to expand employment opportunities in Railways.
The initiative, launched by senior Army officers and the leadership of the Ministry of Railways, will increase awareness about jobs available in the Railways, as well as establish a dedicated support system for retired personnel. The move reflects a shared commitment to provide meaningful second careers to ex-servicemen and contribute to national development goals.
Indian Railways considers the welfare and rehabilitation of ex-servicemen as an integral part of its policies. Under this framework, special horizontal reservation for ex-servicemen and ex-fire veterans has been ensured:
- For Ex-Servicemen: 10% reservation in Level-2 and above posts and 20% reservation in Level-1 posts.
- For Ex-Agniveers: 5% reservation in Level-2 and above posts and 10% reservation in Level-1 posts.
A total of 14,788 posts were reserved for ex-servicemen in various recruitment notifications of Railways in the year 2024 and 2025, which includes 6,485 Level-1 posts and 8,303 Level-2/above posts. Recruitment to these posts is done through competitive examinations through Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and Railway Recruitment Centers (RRC).
Further, in order to fill up the existing vacancies and promote prompt recruitment of Ex-Servicemen, the Ministry of Railways has decided that Ex-Servicemen will be appointed to the post of ‘Pointsman’ on contract basis till the completion of the regular recruitment process. For this, there is a plan to recruit more than 5,000 posts, and 9 railway divisions of the country have already signed MoUs with army organizations.
This collaboration is not only significant for the first batch to retire in 2026 under the Agniveer scheme, but it also symbolizes strong coordination between the military and civilian sectors. This will provide respectable and stable employment to ex-servicemen, which will prove their skills and discipline useful in a big organization like Railways.