Over 20,000 railway employees are participating in the three-day conference.
The All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) today alleged that the Centre's apathy towards filling up about 2.54 lakh "vacant" posts in the Railways was affecting its functioning.
At the 91st annual conference of AIRF, General Secretary Shiv Gopal Mishra further alleged that the government was dissolving several posts which meant that the railway employees had to work overtime.
"About 2.54 lakh posts are vacant in the Railways in different categories and this has been affecting the state-run transporter's functioning, maintenance and safety," he said.
Over 20,000 railway employees are participating in the three-day conference being held in Jodhpur.
Noting that safety was an important issue, Mr Mishra said the government should expedite the process of filling up vacant posts so that the existing staff gets adequate rest. He also demanded that new posts should be created before new trains and sections are introduced, as well as training of new technology to the staff.
"We demand that the duty hours for an employee under any category should not exceed eight hours and that the control staff should get rest at least once a week," he demanded.
Opposing any kind of move of privatisation in Railways, the AIRF general secretary said the government should withdraw its decision regarding FDI in railways, introduction of PPP model and outsourcing.
Condemning Bibek Debroy committee's report on ways to restructure and modernise the public transporter, Mr Mishra said that this was nothing but a conspiracy to kill Railways and privatise it.