124 Trains from (BRC)VADODARA JN to (ADI)AHMEDABAD JN

Ø Dr. Krishna M Ella, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Limited delivered key note address through Virtual mode

Ø Shri Sanjeev Mittal, Member (Infrastructure), Railway Board participated as Chief Guest through Virtual mode

Ø Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway presided over the function

Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET), a premier Railway Centralized Training Institute at Secunderabad, Celebrated its 64th Annual Day o­n 24th November, 2021. Shri Sanjeev Mittal, Member (Infrastructure), Railway Board was the Chief Guest at the program, Dr Krishna M Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Limited was the Keynote Speaker, presided by Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway.

Addressing the gathering Shri Sanjeev Mittal, Member (Infrastructure), Railway Board stated that IRISET has a special place in the hearts of all S&T personnel of Indian Railways as this great Institute lays foundation for a challenging career by imparting training o­n intricacies of Signalling & Telecommunications. While speaking o­n the occasion he urged the institute to train manpower of the zonal Railways to create infrastructure for nation building. He advised the Institute to focus o­n training o­n technologies like Kavach (Train Collision Avoidance System), Automatic Signaling, LTE (Long Term Evolution) and CTC (Centralized Traffic Control) aimed at enhancing safety, improving mobility and promotion of indigenous technologies.

While delivering the key note address o­n the occasion, Dr. Krishna M Ella, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Limited, appreciated the role of front line workers of Indian Railways in transportation of migrant labors and essential commodities during the pandemic times. He complimented the efforts of IRISET to complete the herculean task of training in difficult times. He advised the Institute to collaborate with startups and entrepreneurs to develop new global products using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools to improve quality of training with an ultimate aim to improve the operating efficiency of Indian Railways. He urged the faculty to acquire skills o­n modern technologies and develop simulation models to make the learning process interesting.

Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway laid emphasis o­n imparting training to gross root personnel of signalling and Telecommunication department o­n modern technology systems through Zonal training schools under the guidance of IRISET. He highlighted the need to attain self-sufficiency in maintenance of technical systems to improve reliability of assets to enhance safety. He advised the institute to strengthen web based learning for the benefit of large base of work force to help capacity augmentation o­n large scale.

Shri S K Goel, Director General, IRISET addressed the gathering by welcoming all the dignitaries. While presenting the annual report, DG, IRISET stated that, the institute re-dedicates itself to its mission objective of continuously improving its efforts in providing training for Railway Officers and Supervisors. The institute has mastered the art of dynamic and flexible planning of training schedules as per the changing pandemic scenario in the country striking a fine balance between o­nline and o­n-campus sessions through blended learning. The upgraded learning resources incorporating enriched multi- media content are designed suitable to new teaching environment. Introduction of e-office o­n full scale and adoption of digital initiatives for training management for the registration to courses, allotment of hostel rooms, booking of vehicle for transportation needs, availability of learning resources, o­nline assessment and issue of certificates have helped the Institute to handle the training of unprecedented number of Engineer trainees.

Shri S P S Chauhan , Director General, National Academy of Indian Railways, Vadodara, Shri Rahul Agarwal, Additional Member (Signal), Smt Aruna Singh, Additional Member (Telecom), Railway Board also participated in the event. The dignitaries from Railway Board advised IRISET to partner with signaling industry and gear up for imparting training o­n Railway signaling to graduate students and executives of industry, to expand the capacity of Indian Railway network.

The dignitaries have inaugurated the new laboratory facilities o­n Kavach and Route Relay Interlocking systems for imparting hands-on skills to trainees. Technical magazine e-Gyandeep and technical notes o­n modern technology systems were also released o­n this occasion. A colorful cultural program followed the event.

IRISET established o­n 24th November, 1957, plays a vital role in training the Signal and Telecommunications (S&T) personnel in Railway Signaling and Telecommunication Technologies. It imparts training to not o­nly the S&T personnel of Indian Railways but also to other organizations in public and private sector like NTPC, DFCCIL, RITES, RVNL and RCIL etc. IRISET is alma mater of all S&T engineers, including Officers of Group A service of Signal Engineers i.e. IRSSE who are also trained here.

Despite of the difficulties and restrictions posed by the pandemic, the institute trained a record 5,801 trainees by conducting 114 training courses through o­nline and o­n-campus models this year. This year institute witnessed and created history by imparting the distinction of becoming the first Centralized Training Institute of Indian Railways to reach the historic milestone of logging o­ne lakh training man days in a calendar year.