Railway Protection Force is one of the security forces of India, in which candidates can appear after successfully clearing the UPSC exam.
The mail role of the selected candidates is to protect the property and passengers of the Indian Railways. RPF is the only Central Armed Police Force(CAPF) , who having similar powers similar to regular state police forces. The subordinate officers of the PRF were recruited through the examinations conducted by the force itself. The apex of this service is Director General.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Nationality:
- Nationality of a candidate must be either of the following:
- The appearing candidates for the exam must be present in the following places.
- Citizen of India
- Subject of Nepal
- Subject of Bhutan
- A Tibetan refugee who came to India for permanent settlement in India must be before January 1, 1962.
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The following countries are accepted provided they came for permanent settlement in India:
- Pakistan
- Burma
- Sri Lanka
- East African countries of Kenya
- Uganda
- The United Republic of Tanzania
- Zambia
- Malawi
- Zaire
- Ethiopia
- Vietnam
Age limits:
- Candidate should have the age range between the minimum age of 21 years and maximum age of 30 years as on 1st of August in the year of examination.
Note : There is relaxable age in category wise.
Maximum no .of attempts:
| Categories | No. Of Attempts |
| General candidates | 6 attempts |
| SC/ST candidates | No limits |
| OBC candidates | 9 attempts |
| Physically handicapped | 9 attempts for General and OBC and unlimited for SC/ST |
Roles and responsibilities:
The RPF, along with the Government Railway Police, ensures the security of passengers and property of the Indian Railways.
The following are the functions of the force:
- To arrest and prosecute people in Railway department ,who trying to steal, damage the Indian railway property.
- To Provide the security safe to passenger of trains, in all situations and places.
- To Provide some basic services such as, controlling the access to railway premises, general security to people in railway premises and regulating the passengers in the railway premises.
- To remove obstructions to train and passenger movement, in order to ensure smooth movement of railway traffic.
- To Prevent women trafficking and children.
- To help the poor and needy people who are found inside railway premises.
Special powers given to RPF:
The following powers are given to the officers of RPF, in order to enable them to smoothly discharge their duties:
- To investigate, prosecute and arrest persons, who violates the Railways Act, 1890.
- They have a power to remove obstructions, which were built illegal and obstruct rail transport or passengers.
- They have a power as their wish to use non-lethal and lethal force while discharging their duties, as it depends on the situation.
Grade and its Pay scale:
| Rank/Grade | Pay scale |
| Director-General | Rs.225000 |
| Additional Director General | Rs.205400 |
| Inspector General | Rs.144200 |
| Deputy Inspector General | Rs.131100 |
| Senior Commandant | Rs. 78800 |
| Commandant | Rs. 67700 |
| Assistant Commandant | Rs. 56100 |
The salary structure given above has recently updated one as per the recommendations of the 7th pay commission.
Apart from the pay given to them, various facilities were given to officers as per their rankings :
- Government Accommodation
- Free Railway Passes in all over India including First Class for self and family up to 6 times a year.
- Security Guard
- Concessional railway tickets, applied for all classes of travel.
- Depending on the position of the RPF officers seniority list, they get their accommodation and other perks.
- The officers will get facilities as per the guidelines of the organisations, who went for deputation on other departments.
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