GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

(BHARAT SARKAR)

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAIL MANTRALAYA)

(RAILWAY BOARD)

MASTER CIRCULAR NO. 49 (Revised)

(RBE No. 135/2019)

No. E(G) 2019 QR 1- 1 (Master Circular)

New Delhi, dated 20.08. 2019

Sub: Allotment/retention of Railway Quarters.

The instructions on the subject of allotment/retention of Railway Quarters issued by the Railway Board from time to time had been consolidated into a Master Circular and circulated vide Board's letter No. E(G)92 QR 1-20 dated 19.01.1993 and subsequently revised vide letter No. E(G) 2006 QR 1 -6 (Master Circular) dated 20.04.2007.An attempt has now been made to revise the Master Circular again as under to incorporate the changes that have taken place since then.

2. Entitlement of various types of accommodation:

2.1 General entitlement:

S.No. Category of Staff/Officers and Grade Pay Entitlement

1. Staff with Grade Pay equal to or less than Rs. 1800                Type-I

2. Staff with Grade Pay more than Rs. 1800 and upto 2400        Type-II

3. Staff with Grade Pay more than Rs. 2400 and upto Rs. 4200  Type-III

4. Staff with Grade Pay more than Rs. 4200                                 Type-IV

5. Gazetted Officers with Grady Pay less than Rs. 6600               Type-IV

6. Gazetted Officers with Grade Pay Rs. 6600                               Type-IV special

7. Gazetted Officers with Grade Pay more than Rs. 6600             Type-V

2.2 Entitlement of running staff:

S.No. Category of Staff Grade Pay Entitlement

1. Second fireman                                  1800 Type — II

2. Sr. Second Fireman, Fireman-I, ALP (Diesel/Elect.) Asstt. Guard, Brakesman.   1900 Type— II

3. LP(Shntg)-II, Sr. Fireman-I, Sr. ALP (Diesel/Elect.), Sr. Asst. Guard/ Sr. Brakesman     2400   Type- III

4. Goods Guard         2800    Type- III

5. LP (Shntg)-I, Guard (Pass), Sr. Goods Guard, Mail Exp. Guard, LP(Goods), LP (Passenger)/ Motorman, LP(Mail/E)     4200    Type — IV

Note :

a) Since the level of pay scales recommended by the 7th CPC are corresponding to Grade Pay of 6th CPC, the above entitlement holds good as per 7th CPC also.

b) No existing Type-IV or other types of quarters will be transferred from non-Gazetted pool to Gazetted pool merely because the number of staff eligible for such quarters in accordance with the above instructions happens to be less than the number of available quarters.

c) Type-II quarters may be allotted to employees in Grade pay Rs. 1800/- in case at any location, Type-II quarters are vacant and no one entitled for it is in waiting list, subject to the condition that the license fee shall be liable to be recovered would be of type-II quarters and not as per the entitlement for the employees in Grade Pay Rs. 1800/-.

d) If an officer is reverted to lower grade, his/her entitlement may be revised as per his grade pay. However, the officer may be allowed to retain the existing quarter till such time the quarter is made available as per reverted grade pay of the officer.

(Ref: 2008/LMB/10/16 dated 27.01.2011 — (RB/L&A No.002/2011)

(Ref: 2010/LMB/10/17 dated 10.12.2014)

(Ref: 2008/LMB/10/16 dated. 18.04.2016 — (RB/L&A/002/2016)

(Ref: 2018/LMB-II/2/26 dated. 21.05.2018)

(Ref: 2018/LMB-II/2/26 dated 24.04.2018)

3. Allotment of Railway Quarters: Classification of staff as "essential and non-essential" for allotment of quarters:

a) One of the benefits to which Railway employees are entitled to is provision/allotment of residential accommodation at the place of posting,on payment of a standard rent which is at subsidised rates. For the purpose of allotment of quarters, Railway staff are categorized into two categories, i.e. essential and non-essential. Separate pools of allotment are maintained for essential and non-essential staff. As the local conditions vary, Railway Board have not laid down any rules/instructions for uniform application and the actual classification as per local conditions has been left to the discretion of Zonal Railway Administrations.

(Ref: No.E(G)57 LG 5-1 dated 21.1.1958)

b) Out of the quarters set apart for essential category staff, separate pool of quarters should be maintained for the running staff. The number of quarters in such a pool should be proportionate to the strength of running staff as against non-running essential staff. Allotment of any quarter that falls vacant in this pool will be made to "running" staff only on his/her turn as per the separate Priority Register, maintained for this purpose.

(Ref: No. E(G)69QR1-15 dated 30-10-76)

c) The quarters of the loco running staff pool, on vacation, should be allotted only to the loco running staff.

(Ref: No. E(G)79 QR 1-32 dated 20.08.80)

d) TA Personnel as Essential:

(i)  All the Railway personnel serving in the Railway Engineers Group Units (TA) should be treated as essential staff for the purpose of allotment of Railway accommodation.

Ref: E(ML)74 ML 3-34 dated 6/6/74)

(ii) From amongst the unhoused TA personnel, some of the smarter employees who show leadership and enthusiasm in TA may be given preference over other TA personnel in allotment of quarters out of turn. Such allotments, however, should not exceed 10% of the un housed TA personnel subject to minimum of 5 at bigger stations.

(iii) In assessing the eligibility/suitability of such out of turn allotments, the recommendation of the commanding officer of the TA units should be treated as final.

(Ref: No.E(G)96 QR1-42 dated 3.11.97)

4. Allotment of Railway quarters — Reservation for SCs/STs:

a) Reservation of 10% in respect of Type I and Type II Railway quarters should be made in favour of SC/ST employees in all the areas where the number of quarters is 50 or more. It is further desired that representative of SC/ST employees who have been duly recommended by the SC/ST Railway Employees Association should also be included in the housing allotment committee in all the places wherever it exists.

(Ref: No.82-E(SCT)26/2 dated 27.9.83 and No. 2002-E(SCT)I/21/1 dated 20/11/2002)

b) Reservation in allotment of quarters will apply only in non-essential categories.

c) The reservation is made against the total number of quarters at a station and not against the number of quarters in a particular pool where the number of quarters is less than 50.

d) Two waiting lists are to be maintained, one general waiting list and another special waiting list of SC/ST Railway employees for allotment against 10% quota in Type I and II and 5% in Type III and IV. The SC/ST employees who are senior enough and are covered in general waiting list in their turn will be given allotment from the general pool quota. The special list will be operated only if the accommodation provided on the general list falls short of this percentage. (Ref: No.84-E(SCT)I/21/1 dated. 22.8.86)

e) The reserved quota is exclusively reserved quota for SC/STs and allotments made to SC/STs from the general list is not to be counted towards the reserved quota which has to be filled by allotment to SC/ST employees who are not covered against the general (unreserved) points of the roster within the vacancies of quarters to be filled up at a particular point of time. In other words, SC/ST employees allotted Railway quarters on their own service length seniority in the general list are not to be adjusted against reserved quota.

 (Ref: No. 97-E (SCT)I/22/5 dated 9.10.97)

f) For reckoning the number of quarters in place or unit, 50 should be the total number of type I & II quarters taken together in that place or unit;

g) Reservation percentage will be applied separately to Type I & Type II

h) Waiting lists have to be prepared separately for each type of quarters.

(Ref: No. 99-E(SCT)i/21/1 dated 25.06.99)

 5. Allotment of Railway quarters-husband and wife posted at the same station:

Allotment of quarters to gazetted and non-gazetted staff, where two employees of opposite sexes in occupation of two separate quarters at the same station, allotted under normal rules, marry one another, shall be regulated as under:-

a) No Railway employee (Gazetted or non-Gazetted), shall be allotted a Railway quarter if the spouse has already been allotted a quarter at the same station, unless such quarter is surrendered. This will, however, not apply where the husband and wife are residing separately in pursuance of an order of judicial separation made by any court.

b) Where two employees in occupation of separate quarters at the same station allotted under Railway Rules, marry one another, they shall, within one month of the marriage surrender one of the residences.

c) Where two employees (husband and wife) are in occupation of separate residences at the same station, one allotted under Railway Rules and another from a different pool on account of the allottee being an employee of another Government Department, any one of them shall surrender his/her residence within one month of the marriage.

d) If a residence is not surrendered as required under (b) or (c) above, the allotment of the Railway residence shall be deemed to have been cancelled on the expiry of such period.

e) In the event of either of the two employees (husband & wife) being transferred to another station, he/she (as the case may be), shall be entitled for allotment of Railway quarter under the relevant rules. (Ref. No. E(G) 73 QR 1-44 dated 2.7.1974)

f) Wife/husband of an employee sent on deputation could be considered for allotment of the same quarter, already allotted to one of the spouse, if she/he was otherwise eligible in the normal course taking her/his date of registration for quarter from the date of her/his date of registration for quarter from the date of her/his appointment/transfer/posting at a particular station.

(Ref: No.E(G)90 QR 3-16 (RBE No. 174/91) dated 10.10.91)

6 Allotment of Type II quarters to Railway employees in Grade Pay -1800/-

Type-II quarters may be allotted to employees in Grade Pay Rs. 1800/- in case at any location, Type-II quarters are vacant and no one entitled for it is in waiting list, subject to the condition that the license fee shall be liable to be recovered would be of Type-II quarters and not as per the entitlement for the employees in Grade Pay Rs.1800/-

(No.2008/LMB/10/16 dated 18.04.2016 - RB/L&A/002/2016)

7. Preference for allotment: to the eligible spouse/ward sharing accommodation with deceased/ retired railway allottee:

In the case of non-gazetted railway employees who are sharing accommodation allotted to their parents but are not eligible for retention of the same in the event of death/retirement of their parents, may be given preference for allotment of accommodation as per their entitlement or one type higher (limiting the same up to Type-III) considering their pooling of accommodation where no HRA was claimed by them provided such of the staff agrees to pay the licence fee/house rent according to type of the quarter allotted. ln partial modification of the letter (No. E(G) 2018 QR 1-10 dated. 25.10.2018 (RBE No.165/2018) which limited it to Type-III, it has now been decided that the ceiling limit for allotment of one type higher accommodation may be extended up to Type —IV on the basis that Group 'C' employees are also entitled for Type IV accommodation. (No.E(G) 2018 QR 1-10 dated. 27.03.2019 RBE No.56/2019)

8. Out of turn allotment of quarters:

8.1 Out of turn allotment, wherever conceded, should be made strictly on the basis of date of registration in the out of turn register to be maintained for the purpose. Placing of an employee in the out of turn list, however, is left to the discretion of the competent authority, based on merits of each case. (Ref: E(G) 66 QR 1-21 dated 12.10.1966)

8.2 Allotment to Persons with Disabilities (handicapped employees): Requests from the handicapped persons appointed on the Railway under special schemes should also be entertained for registration in the out of turn register on merits of each case, with the due regard to the degree of their disability. (Ref: No.E(G)66 QR 1-21 dated 12.10.1966)

8.3 Ad-hoc allotment on medical grounds:

8.3.1 Grounds of heart ailment etc:

Heart ailment, having the following symptoms, should be included for adhoc allotment on medical grounds. The concession should, however, be restricted to self-ailment only, as indicated below:-

"Heart ailment having symptoms of Grade III and Grade IV which includes serious disabilities like Angina Grade III and IV or congested Cardiac Failure Grade III and IV or malignant hypertension with symptoms of Grade III and IV."

8.3.2 On other medical grounds: With regard to eligibility for ad-hoc allotment on other medical grounds, such as Pulmonary T.B. and Cancer, illness of parents and other members of the family should be excluded, only the illness of the Government servant himself and/or members of his/her family i.e. wife/husband and the children, should alone be considered for the concession of ad-hoc allotment on these two grounds.

Note: Existing 5% reservation of vacancies in general pool for ad-hoc allotment on medical grounds and physical handicap would continue. (Ref: No. E(G)85 QR 1/8 dated 05.06.1986)

8.4 TA Personnel:

a) All the Railway personnel serving in the Railway Engineers Group Units (TA) should be treated as essential staff for the purpose of allotment of Railway accommodation. Ref: E(ML)74 ML 3-34 dated 6/6/74) b) From amongst the unhoused TA personnel, some of the smarter employees who show leadership and enthusiasm in TA may be given preference over other TA personnel in allotment of quarters out of turn. Such allotments, however, should not exceed 10% of the un housed TA personnel subject to minimum of 5 at bigger stations. c) In assessing the eligibility/suitability of such out of turn allotments, the recommendation of the commanding officer of the TA units should be treated as final.

(Ref: No.E(G)96 QR1-42 dated 3.11.97)

8.5 Out of turn allotment-Employee to son/daughter/dependent

Requests from eligible dependents/specified relations of retired Railway employees, and of deceased Railway employees who are appointed on compassionate grounds, may be considered by the competent authority only on cases where the compassionate appointments have been made within the prescribed period of 24 months. In case, the compassionate appointee had remained in occupation of the Railway accommodation unauthorisedly beyond the permitted period, that in itself would not confer any right in favour of the compassionate appointee in the matter of regularisation of the Railway accommodation in his/her name. Further, the Railway Administration should also initiate eviction proceedings soon after the prescribed period for retention of accommodation is over. The special dispensation allowed in favour of the eligible wards of retired/deceased employees and their scope is to be confined only to such of the wards as are regular employees. Thus, the casual labour and the substitutes with or without temporary status are excluded from their scope. The requests are to be considered as under:

a) When a Railway employee who has been allotted railway accommodation retires from service or dies while in service, his/her son, daughter (unmarried/married), wife, husband or father may be allotted railway accommodation on out of turn basis  provided that the said relation was a Railway employee eligible for railway accommodation and had been sharing accommodation with the retiring or deceased railway employee for at least six months before the date of retirement or death and had not claimed H.R.A. during that period. The same residence might be regularised in the name of the eligible relation if he/ she was eligible for a residence of that type or higher type. In other cases, a residence of the entitled type or a type next below is to be allotted.

b) Requests for out of turn allotment of Railway accommodation from the eligible dependents/specified relations of deceased Railway employees who are appointed on compassionate grounds may be considered of the deceased Railway employee, minimum being Type-l and restricting the allotment up to Type-IV failing which Type-IV Spl or the entitled category of accommodation to the compassionate appointee, whoever is higher, subject to fulfilling the laid down conditions. This will be applicable to all Group A,B,C (including erstwhile Gr D) Railway employees.

c) Provided that in case where the retiring employee, including those who take voluntary retirement, or any member of his family, owns a house in the place of his/her posting, the specified relative will not be eligible for allotment of railway quarter on out of turn basis.

d) In case of appointment on compassionate grounds, Railway accommodation may be regularised where such appointee possessing minimum educational qualification undergoes induction training provided other conditions regarding eligibility etc. are fulfilled. It is, however, clarified that such an allotment shall be purely temporary, and on ad-hoc basis, provided such induction training is regularised as regular appointment in due course. In case the trainee employee fails to qualify in the final examination and is subsequently discharged from service, his/her allotment of quarter shall be cancelled.

 e) In the event, a quarter belonging to a particular pool is allotted to the eligible dependent of an employee on out of turn basis on retirement/death of an employee who was having a quarter in another pool, thereby causing a shortfall in the quota of quarter in that pool, the deficiency so caused in that pool of quarters should be made good at the earliest available opportunity, in order that the balance is restored at the earliest.

 9. General instructions: b)

   For Read more click here Master Circular No. 49 Allotment of Quarters and Retention thereof on Transfer etc