Railnet lines rollout liberalised for ease in work from home for Rly employees
   Date :22-Feb-2021

Railnet _1  H x
 
 
By Sagar Mohod :
 
Considering the need for seamless operation, Railway Board has liberalised the policy regarding provision of Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections at home so that officials can log onto e-office. While all senior officers are provided Railnet at their residence but many middle ranking officials and some junior employees found it difficult to work during the time of lockdown. So after considering the feedback from field units, Railway Board decided to allow release of Railnet connections to those carrying out critical works. Member (Infra), Railway Board, authorised Signal&Telecom to act as nodal department for issuing the VPNs. Also the concurrence from Finance Directorate is made mandatory since the connections would be against quarterly charges.
 
As per the policy, the respective Branch Officer not below the rank of Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) at division level would have to authorise the connections so that only those in need only can get the same. As decided, Railnet connection would cost Rs. 2,000 for a year or more to paid quarterly (excluding GST), Rs. 1600 for six months period, Rs. 1,000 for three months. Further S&T would also get configuration charges per VPN connection. The Board has however said the VPN service on charged basis would be on offer for limited period upto March end, unless officially extended by Board. During the lockdown the administrative machinery found it difficult to complete the paperwork as workforce was not having Railnet connections at their homes. The three months continuous absence from office did have its impact as files got piled-up though employee had carried out given tasks at respective homes.
 
The problem was how to forward the same for further processing as access to E-office was only available through Railnet connections. The issue was discussed at large and divisions forwarded notes to Headquarters seeking liberalising Railnet connections policy. Even now despite Mission Being Again, employees are called in rotation to offices as per COVID-19 norms limiting attendance as per capping at 50 per cent. So division bosses felt that if employees are given gateway to E-office through Railnet it would speed-up office work. With March ending nearer there is urgency in wrapping-up pending work so that everything ties in place properly.
 
The notification for VPN also advised Zonal Railways to review existing connection taken from RCIL (excluding those provided for E-office work) and limit their numbers. This is so as Board said there is considerably relaxation in lockdown guidelines and now more employees are attending office. Similarly, field units are asked to explore any surplus capacity in their network before placing orders for new Railnet connections. Right now employees working in Personnel and Accounts are finding it difficult to process the office work as they lack access to E-office network as many of them are attending office in rotation. Particularly at Accounts due to rotational work the speed of passage of bills is having its impact on all activities as suppliers of materials and services are slowing down which is hampering the activities.