NEW DELHI: The government has ordered railway concessions in the form of lifetime complimentary free railway travel for gallantry medal recipients, defence officials said on Thursday.They added that each recipient may be accompanied by one individual, who would also travel for free.For a posthumous recipient, their parents or spouse are eligible to avail of the scheme. The spouse can continue to benefit from the scheme only until they marry, while in the case of parents, the benefit is available only if the recipient was unmarried at the time of their death.“The Government of India has issued an order to grant railway concession in the form of complimentary lifelong free travel in First Class/2 AC/AC chair car, along with one companion in trains of Indian Railways to the awardees of Sana/Nau Sena/Vayu Sena Medal gallantry awards/their spouse (widows/widower till their remarriage)/parents of unmarried posthumous awardees,” officials told news agency ANI.‘Framework of Cooperation‘ initiativeIndian Railways and the Army have introduced a “Framework of Cooperation” to expand post-retirement employment opportunities for Agniveers and serving Army personnel transitioning to civilian life.The initiative aims to smooth the shift to civilian careers, raise awareness of job prospects, and create a support system for retiring personnel, according to the Ministry of Railways.Under this, a 10% Level-2/above posts and 20% in Level-1 posts is reserved for ex-servicemen, while 5% of Level-2/above and 10% of Level-1 posts is reserved for retired Agniveers. In 2024 and 2025, 14,788 posts were reserved, including 6,485 Level-1 and 8,303 Level-2/above posts. Recruitment is conducted through RRCs (Level-1) and RRBs (Level-2/above) via competitive exams.To fill vacancies faster, ex-servicemen are being recruited as contract Pointsmen. Over 5,000 Level-1 posts are under processing, and 9 Divisions have signed MoUs with Army organizations for hiring.The framework also calls on Army recruiting bodies to coordinate with Railway Divisions to expedite these recruitments.(With ANI inputs)
