Assistant Station Master - How to become an Assistant Station Master

Assistant Station Master is  one of the most important official on a railway station. Indian Railway is one of the largest and busiest railways network in the world having a capacity of transporting seventeen million passengers and more than two million ton of fright daily with the help of 2,25,000 wagons, 45,000 coaches and more than 8300 locomotive engines of various kinds.

To do this huge task daily Indian railway has nearly 1.6 million employees on its role in technical and non technical category ranging from a cleaner to DGM.

Assistant Station Master also known as ASM is one of these important post in this long hierarchy of the railway staff. He is the person who has the responsibility to supervise all the task on the railway station. Assistant Station Master is the sole authority of all happening on a particular station. He is the person on whose shoulders lies the responsibility of safe arrival and departure of the train from the railways stations he is posted on.

One has to be really dedicated and hardworking to handle this all important work. The job of an ASM demands intensive training with loads of added responsibility to carry hundreds of lives to their destination safely. For this one should have discipline, patience, sense pf responsibility, punctuality, commitment and self-confidence. The job requires lots of hard work, stamina, alertness of mind, adaptability to follow difficult time schedules and good team spirit. Although he is provided with a full team of technical and non technical staff to share this responsibility but an ASM is the most important person on a Railway station because he never gets a chance to rectify his mistake if committed during discharging his duties.

To discharge his duties efficiently and effectively he requires special training and knowledge.

Eligibility to become an Assistant Station Master

1. Educational Qualification

To be eligible to become an Assistant Station Master in India one should be a graduate in any discipline.
Diploma in Rail Transport and management from the Institute of Rail transport will be an added advantage to get this job.

2. Age

The aspiring candidates should not be less than 18 years and more that  33 years.

How to become an Assistant Station Master?

To become an Assistant Station Master one has to follow the below given steps:

Step 1

To become an Assistant Station Master one has to apply for the competitive exam to be held for the job whenever declared by any of the 17 RRBs of different zones in the Indian Railways.

Step 2

After clearing the RRB exam (consisting of nearly 150 questions on G.K, Aptitude, Mathematics and General English) held for the post of ASM and getting the necessary training one is posted on a Railway station along with a SM. Some time he may also get an independent charge of a small railway station.

Assistant Station Master Salary

The pay scale of a newly appointed ASM is Rs.15,000 to-Rs.20,000.However these pay scale keep or revising whenever new pay commission set in.

They also get attractive remuneration and incentives including contributory provident fund, gratuity, medical facilities and free/concessional Railways passes etc. They are also provided with a range of benefits and allowances in addition to housing facilities, medical expenses and out-station allowances, as well as free/concessional Railways passes for their immediate family members and dependants

Assistant Station Master Career Options

After starting from an ASM the next step is SM and with time and experience one can reach at the apex of the hierarchy level.