RBE No. 186/2019: Leave Rules – Amendment to IREC – ACS No.138

No.E(P&A)I-2017/CPC/LE-5, dated 01.11.2019

Sub: Leave to a Railway servant who is unlikely to be fit to return to duty – reg.

1. In pursuance to the decision taken by the Government, the Ministry of Railways have decided that leave applied under Rule 522 of IREC Vol-I, shall not be refused or revoked without reference to the Medical Authorities, whose advice shall be binding. Further, any leave debited for the period(s) granted after receipt of the certificate of disability of the Medical Authority, shall be remitted back into the leave account of the Railway servant. The Certificate of Disability is required to be issued in Annexure-A, which should be signed by a Government doctor of a Government medical board. Further, a Railway servant who is granted leave in accordance with the provisions of clause (b) of sub-rule (1) of rule 522 of IREC Vol-I, the provisions of section 20 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016) shall suo-motu apply. 

2. This order shall take effect from 19.04.2017.

3. The provisions in respect of Leave Rules are contained in Chapter-5 of Indian Railway Establishment Code (IREC), Volume-I, 1985 Edition (Reprint Edition-2008). In view of this, in exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to direct that Leave Rules may be amended as per enclosed Advance Correction Slip No.138.

4. This issues with the concurrence of the Finance Directorate of the Ministry of Railways. 

5. Please acknowledge receipt. 

Advance Correction Slip No.138

Indian Railway Establishment Code (IREC), Volume-I,

1985 Edition (Third Reprint Edition-2008)

The following amendments may be made to Leave Rules of the Indian Railway Establishment Code (IREC), Volume-I, 1985 Edition (Reprint Edition-2008):-

After Rule 502 the following Rule shall be inserted namely:-

502-A: Definitions:-

(1) In these rules unless the context otherwise requires:-

(a) “Audit Officer” means the Accounts and Audit Officer, whatever his official designation, in whose circle the office of the Railway servant is situated;

(b) “Authority competent to grant leave” means the authority specified in Column (3) of the First Schedule to these rules, competent to grant the kind of leave specified in the corresponding entries in Column (2) of the said Schedule;

(c) “Completed years of service” or “one year’s continuous service” means continuous service of specified duration under the Railways and includes the period spent on duty as well as on leave including extraordinary leave;

(d) “Date of retirement” or “date of his retirement” in relation to a Railway servant, means the afternoon of the last day of the month in which the Railway servant attains the age prescribed for retirement under the terms and conditions governing his services;

(e) “Disability” means “specified disability”, “benchmark disability”, and “disability having high support needs” as referred to in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016);

(f) “Foreign Service means service in which a Railway servant receives his pay with the sanction of Government from any source other than the Consolidated Funds of India or the Consolidated Fund of any State [or the Consolidated Fund of Union Territory];

(g) “Form” means a Form mentioned at the end of Chapter-5 as annexures;

(h) “Railway servant in quasi-permanent employ” means an officer who having been declared by the Union Public Service Commission to be eligible for appointment to the Ministerial Services under Ministry of Railways, has been appointed to a temporary or officiating vecancy on the understanding given to him in writing before he took up the appointment, that that vecancy is expected to become permanent but is not confirmed after completion of three years’ continuous service;

(i) “Railway servant in permanent employ” means and officer who holds substantively or provisionally substantively a permanent post or who holds a lien on a permanent post or who would have held a lien on permanent post had the lien not been suspended;

(j) “Vacation Department” means a department or part of a department, to which regular vacations are allowed during which Railway servants serving in the department are permitted to be absent from duty. 

(2) Words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Indian Railway Establishment Codes and Indian Railway Establishment Manuals shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Indian Railway Establishment Codes and Indian Railway Establishment Manuals.

503 – Right to Leave:-

The following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

“provided that leave applied under rule 522, shall not be refused or revoked without reference to the Medical Authority, whose advice shall be binding.”

510 – Maximum amount of continuous leave:-

After sub-rule (2), the following provisio shall be inserted namely:-

“Provided further that is this rule shall not apply to a case where leave is applied on medical certificate, in connection with a disability.”

Note:- Here and hereafter “disability” means “specified disability”, “benchmark disability”, and “disability having high support needs” as referred to in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016).

511 – Application for leave:-

The following provisio shall be inserted, namely:-

“Provided that where a Railway servant is unable to submit an application or medical certificate on account of a disability, such application or medical certificate may be signed and submitted by:-

(a) The spouse of the Railway servant; or

(b) The parents in case of an unmarried Railway servant; or

(c) The child including adopted child or brother or sister of the Railway servant, who has attained the age of majority; or

(d) Any person who has been assigned limited guardianship of the Railway servant in terms of section 14 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016)

And the same shall be deemed to have been made and submitted by the Railway servant himself.”

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. 

520 – Rule may be substituted as under:- 

520 – Grant of leave on Medical certificate to Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ officers:- 

Before a railway servant in Group ‘A’ or Group ‘B’ is granted leave or an extension of leave, on medical certificate, he shall obtain a certificate in the following form:-

MEDICAL CERTIFICATE FOR RAILWAY SERVANTS (GROUP A & B) RECOMMENDED LEAVE OR EXTENSION OF LEAVE OR COMMUTATION OF LEAVE

Signature of the Railway servant ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I ………………………………………………after careful personal examination of the case hereby certify that Shri/ Shrimati/ Kumari …………………………………………………………………whose signature is given above is suffering from …………………………and I consider that a period of absence from duty of ……………………………………………..with effect from ………………………………………….is absolutely necessary for the restoration of his/ her health. 

Date ………………………….

Medical Superintendent/

Divisional Medical Officer/

Authorized Medical Attendant 

Note 1:- (i) A certificate given by an Assistant Divisional Medical Officer will be acceptable only if countersigned by Divisional Medical Officer concerned. 

(ii)    This form should be adhered to as closely as possible and should be filled in after the signature of the applicant has been taken. The certifying officer is not at liberty to certify that the applicant requires a change from or to a particular locality, or that he is not fit to proceed to a particular locality. Such certificate should only be given at the explicit desire of the administrative authority concerned, to whom it is open to decide, when an application on such grounds has been made to him whether the applicant should go before a Medical Board to decide the question of his fitness for service. 

(iii)   No recommendation contained in the certificate shall be evidence of a claim to any leave not admissible to the railway servant under the terms of his contract or of the rules to which he is subject. 

521. Commuted Leave/ Leave on Production of Medical Certificate by the railway servantS:-

Omitted.

[Provisions of this rule have been merged in Rule 519(1)]

522. Leave to a railway servant who is unlikely to be fit to return to duty:-

(a)   In sub-rule (1), in clause (b) for sub-classes (i) and (ii), the following shall be substituted, namely:- 

“(i)   In the Medical Authority is unable to say with certainty that the Railway servant, who has acquired a disability, will never again be fit for service, leave not exceeding twelve months at a time may be  granted and such leave shall not be extended without further reference to a Medical Authority. 

(ii)    If a railway servant is declared by the Medical Authority, as specified in rule 519, as to have acquired such disability, which may prevent him from discharging further service, leave or an extension of leave may be granted to him after the certificate of the Medical Authority has been received in Annexure III-A;

Provided that any leave debited for the period(s) granted under sub-classes (i) of clause (b), after receipt of the certificate of disability of the Medical Authority, shall be remitted back into the leave account of the Railway servant.

Provided further that any leave granted to regulate the period of absence under sub-clause (ii) of clause (b), after receipt of the certificate of the Medical Authority, shall not be debited to the leave account of the Railway servant.” 

(b) For sub-rule (2), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:-

“(2)  In the case of Railway servant who is granted leave in accordance with the provisions of clause (b) of sub-rule (1), the provisions of section 20 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016) shall, suo motu apply.” 

Annexure III-A: Medical Certificate for Railway servants who are to be recommended Leave under Rule 522:-

After Annexure III, the following Annexure shall be inserted, namely:-

“Annexure III-A

(see rule 519 and 522)

Medical certificate for government servants who are to be recommended leave under rule 522

Signature/ thumb impression of the Railway servant …………………………………………………………………..

1.     It is certified that Shri/ Shrimati/ Kumari ………………………………………………………….(designation and place of work may also please be indicated) is under my medical supervision since ……………………………………and is suffering from ………………………………(*)

2.     The aforesaid medical condition can be reasonably estimated to have manifested itself with effect from ……………………………………and that:-

(i)    It cannot be said with certainty that the Railway servant will never again be fit for service, or

(ii)    There is no reasonable prospect that the Railway servant will ever be fit to return to duty.

3.**      In view of the fact that it cannot be said with certainty as to when the Railway servant shall be fit for service, I recommend that Shri/ Shrimati/ Kumari ……………………………………………………………..may be granted leave on medical grounds w.e.f……………………….. to ………………………..(upto a period of one year)

[** Please strike out if a certificate is being issued under 2(ii) above] 

Name and designation of the Medical Officer of Central Government Health Scheme/ Government Hospital/ Medical Board

OR

Name, designation and details of certifying authorities so designated under section 57 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016)

(*) Note:- Nature of disability “specified disability”, “benchmark disability”, and “disability having high support needs” as referred to in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016)

[Authority: Railway Board’s No.E(P&A)I-2017/CPC/LE-5, dated 01.11.2019 (RBE No. 186//2019) (ACS No.138)]

Download Railway Board Circular RBE No. 186/2019

Forward reference ⇒ RBE No.