IREC Rule No.519: Grant Of Leave On Medical Certificate
519. Grant Of Leave On Medical Certificate:-
General Rules:
(1) Medical Officers shall not recommend grant of leave in any case in which there appears to be no prospect that the railway servant concerned will ever be fit to re-asume his duties. In such cases the opinion that the railway servant is permanently unfit for railway service should be recorded in the Medical certificate. A railway servant in Group ‘A’ or Group ‘B’ should not be invalidated out of service on account of ill health except on the certificate of a Medical Board.
(2) Every certificate of a Medical Officer recommending the grant of leave to a railway servant must contain a proviso that no recommendation contained in it shall be evidence or a claim to any leave not admissible to the railway servant under the term of his contract or the rules to which he is subject. The certificate should be forwarded to the authority competent to grant the leave and the orders of that authority should be awaited.
“519 – Rule 519 may be substituted as under:-
519 – Grant of leave on medical certificate to Gazetted and Non-Gazetted Railway servants:-
1. Commuted Leave/ Leave on production of Medical Certificate by the Railway Servant shall be regulated as follows:-
(i) A Railway servant (Gazetted or Non-gazetted), on being a Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS/ Railway Health Service (RHS) beneficiary and living in an area covered by the CGHS/ RHS at the time of illness, shall be required to produce a Medical and Fitness Certificate in the Form prescribed in Annexure-XI to Rule 538 and 541 of Indian Railway Medical Manual, Volume-I Third Edition 2000 either from an authorised CGHS Medical Officer or a Railway/ Government Authorised Medical Officer.
In circumstances where the Railway Doctor’s line visits do not materialize, the Railway employee who are covered by the line jurisdiction of the Railway doctor and who has fallen ill, may obtain a Medical Certificate from a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) subject to the condition, that if the leave applied for on medical grounds is for more than 3 days, the employee should report to the Railway doctor if he is fit to travel or send intimation about his condition, if he is bed ridden, at such intervals as directed by the Railway doctor.
(ii) Railway servants (Gazetted or Non-gazetted) who are not CGHS beneficiaries, (including those who have opted out of CGHS/ RHS or are CGHS/ RHS Card Holders, but at the time of illness are residing outside the jurisdiction of the CGHS/ RHS facilities or take ill while going outside the Headquarters) are required to produce a Medical and Fitness Certificate from his Authorised Medical Attendant (AMA) provided that in the case of a Non-gazetted Railway employee, if no AMA is available within a radius of 8 kilometres of his residence or place of temporary stay outside the Headquarters, the leave sanctioning authority may at his discretion, sanction Leave/ Commuted Leave on production of a Medical Certificate from the Registered Medical Practitioner, after satisfying itself of the facts/ merits of the case.
(iii) In case of hospitalization/ indoor treatment permitted in a private hospital recognized under CGHS/ Central Services (Medical Attendance) Rules, 1944 and Railway Medical Attendance Rules as contained in Indian Railway Medical Manual, Third Edition, 2000 (Corrected upto 30.09.1999), a Railway servant (Gazetted or Non-gazetted), whether a CGHS/ RHS beneficiary or not, may produce the requisite Medical Fitness Certificate from the Authorised Medical Officer of such a hospital in case his hospitalization/ indoor treatment, is on account of the particular kind of disease (e.g. heart, cancer etc,) for the treatment of which the concerned Hospital has been recognised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. There may be instances where an employee may be initially admitted to such hospital at a stage when the disease has yet not been fully diagnosed and it may subsequently be established that the disease was not that, the suspicion of which prompted his/ her admission to the hospital. In such cases, the leave sanctioning authority, with the approval of the General Manager, may grant Leave/ Commuted Leave on the basis of the Medical Certificate from the Authorised Medical Officer of such a hospital, if he is satisfied about the genuineness of the case.
(iv) In cases where a Non-gazetted Railway servant finds it difficult to obtain the Medical Fitness Certificate from a CGHS/ RHS doctor or AMA in exceptional cases, the leave sanctioning authority, may consider grant of leave on the basis of the Medical Fitness Certificate from an RMP after taking into account the circumstances of the specific case. Such a certificate should be, as nearly as possible in the prescribed form as given in Annexure-XI of Rule 538 and 541 of Indian Railway Medical Manual, Volume-I, Third Edition 2000, and should state the nature of illness and the period for which the Railway servant is likely to be unable to perform his duties. The competent authority may, at its discretion accept the certificate, or in cases where it has reasons to suspect the bonafides, refer the case to the Divisional Medical Officer for advice or investigation. The Medical Certificate from registered private practioners produced by the Railway servant in support of their application for leave may be rejected by the competent authority only after a Railway Medical Officer has conducted the necessary verifications and on the basis of the advice tendered by him after such verifications.
(v) Certificate of fitness in case of employees working in the Zonal Railways and Field Units will continue to be governed by the provisions contained in Rule 538 and 541 of Indian Railway Medical Manual Volume-I, Third Edition, 2000.
Note:- Ordinarily, the jurisdiction of a Railway Medical Officer will be taken to cover Railway servant residing within a radius of 2.5 kilometres of the Railway Hospital or health unit to which the Doctor is attached, and within a radius of one kilometre of a Railway station of the Doctor’s beat.
[Authority: Board’s letter No.E(P&A)I-97/CPC/LE-7, dated 29.08.2002 (RBE No. 145/2002)]
Railway Ministry’s decision-1:-
Where a Railway employee remained on medical leave upto and including 3 days duration and reported back for duty with a fitness from the medical practioner, he may be allowed to join duty without obtaining fitness certificate from the Railway Medical Officer subject to the condition that the employee furnished a declaration that he had not suffer during this period from any eye disease. In the other cases where the duration of the sickness is more than 3 days, the railway employee should be put back to duty within 24 hours on his producing fitness certificate from a private medical practitioner, provided he is found fit by the competent railway medical officer. In case there is any delay beyond 124 hours in obtaining the fitness certificate from the competent Railway Medical Officer, the employee concerned will be deemed to have been put back to duty within 24 hours of his producing the medical certificate of the private medical officer.
[Railway Ministry’s letter No.E(G)78 LE1-17, dated 18.01.1979]
Railway Ministry’s decision-2:-
With a view to preventing misuse, the Railway administration may with draw for specified periods (From 1st April to 30th June in Summer, from 1st October to 15th November during Diwali and when mass sick reporting is contemplated by staff of any department) the privilege of acceptance of medical certificate from Registered Medical Practitioner for grant of Medical Certificate to Group ‘C’ and Group ‘D’ Railway servants.
[No.E(G)72 LE1-11, dated 28.09.1972]
2. In case of a Railway servant who has acquired a disability, the Medical Authority shall certify, in the form at Annexure III(A):-
(a) The nature and extent of the disability;
(b) The date from which such disability has occurred or manifested, to the extent it may be medically possible to indicate the same;
(c) Whether there are reasonable prospects for the Railway servant to be fit to resume duties, and if not, categorically state that such Railway servant is completely and permanently incapacitated for further service.
2(A). For the purpose of these rules, a doctor in Central Government Health Scheme or a Government Hospital, or a specialist in Government Hospital in cases requiring specialised treatment, or a Medical Board in a Government Hospital in the case of multiple disabilities shall, in addition to the authority certifying specified disability under the provisions contained in Chapter-X of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016), be the Medical Authorities competent to issue certificate of disability in the form at Annexure III-A.
2(B). Notwithstanding anything in these rules, no reference from the Head of Office or any other authority may be required for issue of medical certificate of disability.
3. Where, however, the authority competent to grant leave is not satisfied about the genuineness of a particular case, it will be open to such authority to secure a second medical opinion by requesting a Government Medical Officer/ Railway Medical Officer not below the rank of Civil Surgeon/ Medical Superintendent or Staff Surgeon/ Divisional Medical Officer to have the applicant medically examined on the earliest possible date.
4. It shall be the duty of the Divisional Medical Officer to express an opinion both as regards the fact of the illness and regards the necessity for the amount of leave recommended and for that purpose he may either require the application to appear before himself or before a Medical Officer nominated by himself.
5. The grant of medical certificate under this rule does not in itself confer upon the railway servant concerned any right to leave. The medical certificate shall be forwarded to the authority competent to grant leave and orders of that authority awaited.
6. The authority competent to grant leave may at its discretion, waive the production of medical certificate in case of application for leave for a period of not exceeding 3 days at a time. Such leave shall not, however, be treated as leave on medical certificate and shall be debited against leave other than on medical grounds.
7. Every certificate of a Medical Officer commanding the grant of leave to a railway servant must contain a provision that no recommendation contained in it shall be evidence or a claim to any leave not admissible to the railway servant under the term of his contract or the rules to which he is subject. The certificate should be forwarded to the authority competent to grant the leave and the orders of that authority should be awaited.
[Authority: Railway Board’s No.E(P&A)I-2017/CPC/LE-5, dated 01.11.2019 (RBE No. 186//2019) (ACS No.138)]