29-691: Railway Protection Force (RPF) is an armed force of the Union under the Ministry of Railways , Government of India . The force was established by the RPF Act, 1957, enacted by the Indian Parliament for "the better protection and security of railway property and passenger area ". It has the power to search, arrest, enquire, and prosecute offenses committed under the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act 1966 and
58-613: A result of formal division of the Police Force deployed on the railways into “Government Police” and “Private (Companies) Police”, the Railway Companies directly assumed the responsibility of protection and Security of their property as well as of the goods entrusted to them by public for carriage. For this, they appointed “Chowkidars” for various departments and placed them under control of their local departmental heads. With an increase in commercial traffic and consequential steep rise in
87-571: A statutory basis. The Railway Board also appointed a Security Adviser to the Railway Board in July, 1953 to work out the details for the reorganisation of the Watch & Ward department. It was decided in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs that there should be an integrated well organised force on
116-564: Is a statutory body that reports to parliament and is under the ownership of ministry of railways. Indian Railways is further divided into 18 administrative zones (17 operational), headed by general managers who report to the board along with the heads of other institutions and undertakings owned by the Indian Railways. The railway board consists of a chairman , four members responsible for operations, business development, human resources, infrastructure and finance respectively. Also part of
145-475: Is based on the following relevant legislation, rules and directives. Inspector General Ministry of Railways (India) The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India , responsible for the country's rail transport . Indian Railways is a statutory body managed by the railway board under the ownership of the ministry that operates the national railway system. The ministry along with
174-665: Is endowed with significant authority to enforce legal provisions pertaining to railway property and operations. Specifically, the RPF possesses the power to arrest, investigate, and prosecute individuals found in violation of The Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act and The Railways Act . Moreover, in 2019, the RPF was granted additional empowerment under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, allowing officers to undertake search, seizure, and arrest activities in relation to drug-related offenses. Notably, officers holding
203-587: The Great Indian Peninsular Railway incorporated in 1849. In October 1901, the Secretary of State for India in Council appointed Thomas Robertson as a special commissioner for Indian Railways to prepare a report on the administration of Indian Railways. In his report in 1903, Thomas recommended setting up of a three-member Railway Board headed by a chief commissioner. In March 1905, the railway branch of
232-504: The Indian railway board to obtain and retain business with the Railway Board and curb taxes. On 3 May 2013, the CBI arrested then minister of railways Pawan Kumar Bansal 's nephew, Vijay Singla for accepting an alleged bribe of ₹ 9 million (US$ 110,000) from a middleman for the appointment of a particular person to the railway board. The railway board clarified that no rules had been broken during
261-661: The Public Works Department was transferred to the newly established railway board under the department of commerce and industry by the Indian Railway Board Act. In 1908, the set up was re-organized on the recommendations of the Railway Finance Committee (1908) by constituting the railway board headed by a president as a separate department. Pursuant to the Acworth committee's recommendations in 1921,
290-462: The Union Cabinet decided to reduce the size of the board from eight to five. The ministry has a union minister and one or more ministers of state . The railway board reports to the union ministry with the directorates of traction , engineering , traffic , rolling stock , signalling , materials , personnel , RPF , finance , health and safety reporting to the board. Indian Railways
319-601: The Police Act, 1861 and deployed a contingent for the security of the railway with the owner companies bearing their upkeep. The Railway Companies exercised full control over the Police Force. On the recommendation of Railway Police Committee, 1872, Railway Police was organized into ‘Govt. Police’ (The precursor of GRP) for Law enforcement and ‘Company Police’ (The precursor of RPF) for Watch and Ward duties in Railways. The actual separation of duties came into effect in 1881. By 1882, as
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#1732863141927348-689: The RPF Rules and Regulations too were found judicially unsound. The RPF Act, 1957 was accordingly modified by Parliament vide Act No.60 of 1985 on 20 September 1985 for the constitution and maintenance of the Force as an armed force of the Union. For carrying out the purposes of the Act, RPF Rules 1987 was framed. The percentage of women in the RPF is the highest among all central paramilitary forces in India. It stands at 10% as of March 2019. The Railway Protection Force (RPF)
377-836: The Railways Act, 1989 (amended from time to time). RPF has also been entrusted with the responsibility of security of railway passenger area and railway passengers since 2004. However the power of arrests under other penal laws rests in the hands of the Government Railway Police (GRP) of each state. All the officers of Railway Protection Force are members of the Indian Railway Protection Force Service (IRPFS) and are either recruited through UPSC Civil Services Examination or get promoted from Non-Gazetted ranks to Officer Ranks by time bound promotions. They are recruited as Group-A Central Civil Servants. However,
406-491: The better protection and security. It was only on 29 August 1957 that a Railway Protection Force Act was enacted by the Parliament and Railway Security Force was renamed as Railway Protection Force. The RPF Rules were made on 10 September 1959 and RPF Regulations wee formulated in 1966.In the meantime in 1962 “Special Emergency Force” has been raised from the existing strength of RPF during Chinese Aggression, which
435-400: The board are four director generals responsible for human resources, health, RPF and safety respectively. The first railway budget was presented in 1924. Since then, Railway budget was presented as a standalone budget every year before the union budget till 2016. The last Railway Budget was presented on 25 February 2016 and on 21 September 2016, Government of India approved merger of
464-497: The incidence of theft of goods entrusted to railways for carriage, the “Chowkidar” system was reorganized after the first World War onto Watch & Ward organization under a single superior officer designated as Superintendent, Watch & Ward – a system which continued up to 1954.Thus the Railway Police Administration functioned under three different systems viz the district system, as a part of District Police;
493-524: The maintenance of law and order, prevention and detection of crimes, as well as investigation and policing on railways and railway premises, including running trains. The Gazetted IRPFS Officers utilise a similar rank structure to the IPS ( Indian Police Service ). Non-Gazetted ranks are the same as those used in the State Police Services . The job profile differs for each position The governance of RPF
522-619: The model of the Police with adequate supervisory staff specially trained to meet the particular aspects of crime that were relevant to Railway property and to work in close collaboration and act as a second line to the States Police with whom, under the Constitution, policing on Railways rested. This led to the R.P.F. Bill for
551-474: The post of Director-General of RPF is held on deputation by a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. Currently Manoj Yadava (IPS) is Director General of Railway Protection Force. Recruitment also occurs for various posts like sub-inspectors & constables. Such recruitments are conducted through various exams held by the Ministry of Railways, Government of India. The maintenance and security of Railways,
580-565: The provincial system, for each province and the Railway Administration system, separate Railway Police for each Railway Administration in spite of recommendations of Indian Police commission, 1902-03. The provincial system found acceptance on recommendation of Railway Police Committee, 1921 and the present GRP came into existence. The ‘Company Police’ evolved into present RPF in 1957 passing through "Watch and Ward" phase from 1872-1954, and as "Railway Security Force" from 1954-1956. RPF
609-463: The rail and general budgets from 2017. The railway budget is estimated to be ₹ 264,600 crore (US$ 32 billion) for the financial year 2023–24. On 14 February 2008, Westinghouse Air Brake , admitted to a US federal court of violating Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) regulations by making improper payments from its subsidiary Pioneer Friction based in Kolkata , to government officials of
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#1732863141927638-695: The railway board is housed inside Rail Bhawan in New Delhi . It is headed by the Minister of Railways . With more than 1.2 million employees, it is one of the world's largest employers. The first railway track was operational in Madras in 1837 and the first passenger train ran in Bombay in 1853. But the earlier railways were operated by private companies with the earliest being the Madras Railway established in 1845 and
667-491: The railway board was expanded to four members with the addition of a financial commissioner in 1924 apart from the chief commissioner, one commissioners responsible for ways and works, projects and stores and the other responsible for general administration, staff and traffic. In 1929, an additional member was added to the board and was assigned the responsibility for staff, so that the member in charge of traffic could focus solely on transport and commercial matters. In 1944, all
696-529: The railway companies were taken over by the Government. In December 1950, the Central Advisory Committee for Railways approved the plan for re-organising Indian Railways into six regional zones and re-constituting the railway board to four members with the senior-most functional member appointed the chairman of the board with no absolute over riding power. In October 1954, the chairman of the board
725-526: The rank of Assistant Sub Inspector and above within the RPF hierarchy are authorized to exercise the powers and fulfill the duties outlined in section 42 of the NDPS Act within their respective jurisdictions. Any crime that takes place in the railway jurisdiction falls under the Government Railway Police , which is part of the respective State Police Force . The responsibilities of the Railway Police include
754-565: The vital artery of national communication and economic progress has been a major concern of the Government of India that goes back to the times when the Railway commenced their operations in India in 1854. Since railways have a linear territory traversing inter-state lines, a foolproof security system has been hard to provide. Nevertheless, the genesis of such an endeavor can be traced back to 1854 when East Indian Railways employed certain staff designated as ‘Police’ to denote its own force by enacting
783-628: Was also given limited legal powers under Railway Stores (Unlawful Possession) Act. Thus, for a full 100 years, the Force though being used for providing security to the vital artery of national communication and economic progress did not itself have any legislative status. Therefore the Govt. instituted a special enquiry through Director, Intelligence Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs) who in his report in 1954 forcefully brought out the necessity of organising the Watch & Ward on
812-401: Was especially entrusted the task to protect trains in border districts. In 1965 it has been renamed as “Railway Protection Special Force”. In 1966 RPF has been given legal powers for better protection of Railway property by enacting Railway Property (Unlawful Possession.) Act. But, while the provisions of RPF Act were soon found wanting for the maintenance of an effective and disciplined Force,
841-480: Was made responsible for decisions on technical and policy matters, with the status of a principal secretary to the Government of India with an additional member added. The board was expanded with an additional member responsible for electrical engineering in 1972 and a further member responsible for health in 1976. In 2004, the board is expanded by the introduction of two new members responsible for signalling & telecom and for stores respectively. In December 2019,
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