In short. Casual labour absorption records are the papers that prove when you worked, for how many days and under which office, before a railway or postal unit will consider you for temporary status, absorption or pension. This guide is for former and present casual workers, and for their families, who want to press an old or new claim. Most such claims succeed or fail on records, not argument. Start by listing every place and year you worked, then ask the office in writing for the matching registers before they are weeded out.
Is this your situation?
- You worked as a casual labourer, khalasi, gangman, night guard, waterman or similar in a railway or postal unit.
- You hold a casual labour card or service card, but the office says it cannot find matching records.
- You were discharged when work ended and were told your name would stay on a live register.
- Others engaged with you got temporary status or were absorbed, and you were left out.
- You had temporary status but retired or died without being regularised, and pension was refused.
- You are a family member trying to prove a deceased worker's casual service.
- Your claim was rejected as 'not verified' or 'card not genuine'.
In short
- Records decide these cases. Without dated proof of the days you worked, even a fair claim is usually rejected as unverified.
- The office copy matters more than yours. A casual labour card in your hand is checked against muster rolls, pay sheets and the unit's casual labour register; ask for those copies early.
- Day counts are the heart of it. Railway open line casual labour usually got temporary status after 120 days of continuous work, project casual labour after 360 days, and the DoPT scheme of 1993 needed 240 days in a year.
- Old claims meet delay objections. Tribunals look hard at claims made decades later, so explain the gap and show you kept asking.
- Temporary status can count for pension. The Supreme Court in Bhikhani Devi (2026) upheld pension for postal casual labourers with temporary status who were never regularised.
- Contractor's workers are on a different footing. Workers engaged through a contractor are usually outside these schemes.
Why casual labour absorption records matter more than anything else
A casual worker's claim is unlike most service disputes. There is usually no appointment order, no service book and no pay slip in the usual sense. The worker was engaged by a permanent way inspector, a section engineer, a postmaster or a divisional office for days or months at a stretch, paid from a contingency or work-charged head, and discharged when the work ended. Years later, when a scheme or a screening comes up, the department asks a simple question: show us when you worked.
If you cannot answer it with documents, the department will say your claim is not verified, and the tribunal will usually agree. If you can, the dispute narrows to the rules: whether your days add up to the threshold, whether you were on the register at the right time, and whether others with the same record were treated better. That is a dispute you can win or lose on the law, which is a far better position.
So treat this as a record-gathering exercise before it is a legal one. The broader rights of casual and contract workers, including regularisation after Umadevi, are covered on our page on casual and contract service in central offices. This guide is about building the file that any such claim needs.
How railway casual labour reached temporary status and absorption
Railway casual labour fell into two broad groups. Open line casual labour, engaged on maintenance and running work, generally acquired temporary status after 120 days of continuous engagement. Project casual labour, engaged on construction projects, came under a scheme approved by the Supreme Court in Inder Pal Yadav v. Union of India (1985), with temporary status after 360 days of continuous work, given effect from 1 January 1981.
Temporary status gave some protections and benefits of temporary railway servants, but it did not make the worker a regular employee. The Supreme Court made this clear in General Manager, North West Railway v. Chanda Devi (2007). Absorption into a regular Group D post, now Level 1, came only through screening against vacancies, with a preference for those already on the rolls and some age relaxation.
Casual labourers discharged for want of work were meant to have their names kept on a live casual labour register maintained by the division, in order of their engagement, for re-engagement and screening. The Railway Board set cut-off dates over the years for discharged workers to get their names included. Which cut-off applies to you depends on when and where you were discharged, so ask the division in writing which letter it applied.
Where a worker was absorbed, half of the service rendered after temporary status counted towards pension on regularisation, under the railway pension rules then in force. The Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 2026 replaced the 1993 Rules in January 2026, so check the current railway pension rules for how such service is now counted.
How postal casual labour reached temporary status
In the Department of Posts and the old P&T department, casual labourers worked as night guards, sweepers, packers, waterwomen and in similar jobs, some full time and some part time. After the Supreme Court's order in Jagrit Mazdoor Union (1989), the department introduced a scheme for temporary status and regularisation of its casual labourers, circulated in 1991. Check the circle office's copy of the scheme letter for the exact conditions and cut-off dates that applied to your office.
Casual workers in other central offices look to a different instrument: the DoPT scheme for grant of temporary status and regularisation dated 10 September 1993. A worker qualified if he was on the rolls on that very date and had put in 240 days of work in a year, a figure brought down to 206 days for offices working five days a week. In Union of India v. Mohan Pal (2002), the Supreme Court held that this was a one-time scheme, not an ongoing one, so workers engaged after 10 September 1993 cannot claim under it.
In Bhikhani Devi v. Union of India (2026), the Supreme Court held that postal casual labourers who had temporary status and long service were entitled to pension on superannuation even without formal regularisation, relying on Rule 10(1-B) of the CCS (Temporary Service) Rules, 1965. It directed payment within three months with interest at 6 per cent on default. That makes the temporary status order, and proof of continuous service after it, even more valuable for postal workers and their families.
Which record proves what
| Record | Where it is usually kept | What it can prove |
|---|---|---|
| Casual labour card or service card | With the worker; office copy or counterfoil sometimes with the engaging unit | Periods of engagement, signed by the engaging officer; must match office records |
| Muster rolls and attendance registers | Engaging section, sub-division or post office | Daily attendance, which is the base for counting 120, 240 or 360 days |
| Paid vouchers, pay sheets or acquittance rolls | Accounts office of the division or postal division | Wages actually paid for the days worked |
| Live casual labour register extract | Railway divisional personnel branch | That your name was retained after discharge, and your position |
| Temporary status order or list | Divisional office or postal divisional office | Date of temporary status, which drives pension and absorption rights |
| Screening committee lists and results | Divisional personnel branch or circle office | Whether you were called, considered or skipped |
| Discharge or retrenchment letter | With the worker, or the engaging office | Date and reason for disengagement |
| Bank passbook, ID card or gate pass | With the worker or family | Secondary proof of work in a period when primary records are missing |
The casual labour card: useful, but checked closely
In railways, a casual labour card (sometimes called a service card) was issued to record each spell of engagement, with the dates, the unit, and the signature and seal of the engaging officer. For many workers it is the only paper they still have. It is a good starting point, but railway administrations have seen many forged and altered cards over the years, and they now routinely verify a card against office records before accepting it.
Expect the division to check whether the officer who signed was posted there on those dates, whether the seal matches, and whether muster rolls or paid vouchers show your name for the same periods. A card with overwriting, a missing page or entries in one ink across several years will draw questions. That does not mean such a card is false, but it does mean you need supporting records.
Never alter or 'complete' a card, even to correct a genuine error. Write a separate note explaining the error and ask the office to correct its own records. An altered card can turn a weak claim into a criminal complaint.
Advocate B.K. Singh's first tip: match every entry to an office record
Advocate B.K. Singh asks casual labour clients to prepare one table before anything else: each spell of work in a row, with the start date, end date, number of days, the unit, the engaging officer's name and the document that proves it. Where a row has only the card and no office record, that row is where the department will attack.
His suggestion is to ask for the office record for each weak row specifically, by name of the section, month and year. A request for 'all my records' is often answered with 'not traceable'. A request for 'muster roll of the PWI, Mughalsarai, for March to July 1986' gives the officer something precise to search and is harder to brush aside.
Temporary status records and other papers to collect
Railway casual workers
- Casual labour card or service card, all pages, original and a clear copy
- Any engagement or re-engagement letter
- Discharge letter and the date you were told to stop
- Live casual labour register extract or the letter including your name
- Temporary status order, with the date and the division's letter number
- Screening call letters and results
- Medical examination memo, if you were sent for one
Postal casual workers
- Engagement orders from the postmaster or divisional office
- Attendance registers or certificates of days worked, year by year
- Order granting temporary status, or the circle's list including your name
- Wage records or pay bills showing payment at the daily rate
- Any letter treating you on par with Group D for GPF or other benefits
- Retirement or discharge letter and any pension rejection
For any claim
- Proof of identity and date of birth from the time of engagement
- Bank passbook entries showing wages, if paid into a bank
- Letters and representations you sent, with proof of delivery
- Names and particulars of co-workers who were absorbed from the same unit
- RTI applications, replies and first appeal orders
Getting casual service proof out of the office
Old records are weeded out under retention schedules, so the sooner you ask, the more you are likely to get.
Make your own list first
Write down every spell of work, place, section and officer you remember, with the papers you hold. This tells you exactly which office records to ask for.
Write to the unit and the division
Send a representation to the divisional personnel officer or the postal superintendent, attaching copies of your card or orders and asking for verification against muster rolls and pay records for named periods.
File RTI applications in parallel
Ask the CPIO of the division for copies of the relevant muster rolls, paid vouchers, the live register extract and the temporary status list. Name the section, month and year for each.
Pursue the first appeal
If the reply says 'not available' or 'weeded out', file a first appeal within 30 days asking for the weeding register entry showing when and under which order the record was destroyed.
Collect secondary proof
Where primary records are gone, gather bank entries, identity cards, gate passes and statements of co-workers who were absorbed. These do not replace office records but can support them.
Ask for a reasoned decision
Once your file is complete, ask the competent authority to decide your claim to temporary status, absorption or pension with reasons. That decision is the order you will challenge if needed.
When the office says records are not traceable
This is the reply most old claimants receive. It is not the end of the claim, but it changes the burden of the argument. If the department's own registers would have shown your work and the department has lost or destroyed them, it cannot simply hold the absence of records against you without looking at the other evidence you produce.
Ask, through RTI, for the weeding register or the order under which the records were destroyed. If the records were destroyed after you had already raised your claim, that fact is useful. If they were destroyed lawfully long before, your secondary proof will have to carry more weight, and a tribunal may direct the department to verify your claim through other means, such as the records of co-workers absorbed from the same gang or office.
Your own personal file or service record copy, if you were later absorbed somewhere, may also carry entries of earlier casual service. Our guide on getting a copy of your service book and personal file explains how to ask for it.
A made-up example: a former khalasi in Danapur division
Here's a made-up example. Ramesh worked as a casual khalasi under a section engineer in the Danapur division between 1984 and 1987, in four spells adding up to about 300 days. He was discharged in 1987 and told his name would be kept on the live register. He moved to Delhi for work and heard nothing until a co-worker told him in 2024 that others from the same gang had been screened and absorbed in the 1990s.
He had his casual labour card but nothing else. He wrote to the divisional office and filed an RTI application naming the section and the four periods. The reply produced a 1990 live register extract with his name, and paid vouchers for two of the four spells. The other muster rolls had been weeded out. His co-worker, now retired, gave a statement and a copy of his own absorption order showing the same engaging officer.
The division rejected his claim on delay. Ramesh approached the Patna Bench of the tribunal, which covers Bihar. The tribunal accepted that the register extract was the department's own record, but also noted the gap of more than thirty years. It directed the division to verify whether juniors on the register had been absorbed and to pass a reasoned order on his case. The outcome of such a case turns heavily on the register entry; without it, the delay alone might well have ended the claim.
Delay: the objection every old claim must meet
Most casual labour claims reach the tribunal long after the events, and the department's first reply is usually that the claim is stale. Section 21 of the Administrative Tribunals Act gives one year from the final order, and the Supreme Court in C. Jacob v. Director of Geology and Mining (2008) warned that a department's reply to an old representation does not revive a dead claim. Repeated reminders do not reset the clock either.
Delay can still be condoned for sufficient cause, and the tribunal will look at what kind of claim it is. A claim to pension is treated as a continuing one, while a claim to be absorbed in 1992 is not. Explain in writing why you did not come earlier: illness, migration for work, lack of knowledge of the screening, or the department's failure to inform you of a register position. Our guide on checking limitation on old claims and our note on reasons for delay that tribunals accept go into this in more detail.
Recent Supreme Court decisions have also been less forgiving of departments that keep workers casual for decades. In Jaggo v. Union of India (2024) and Dharam Singh v. State of U.P. (2025), the Court criticised long use of casual and temporary engagement for regular work and selective regularisation. These decisions do not override Umadevi (2006), but they help where the department treated similar workers differently.
Workers through contractors, GDS and others outside these schemes
Workers engaged through a contractor, for cleaning, security or loading, are usually treated as the contractor's employees and not as the department's casual labour. The railway and postal casual labour schemes do not cover them, and their claims generally go to the labour machinery under the labour laws, now the Labour Codes in force from 21 November 2025, rather than to the tribunal. Where the contract is shown to be a sham, the position can differ, but that is a separate and difficult case.
Gramin Dak Sevaks are not casual labour either. They are engaged under their own conduct and engagement rules, and their disputes about pay, engagement and discipline follow a separate track explained on our page for postal employees and GDS. Railway staff already absorbed whose earlier casual service was left out of pension should look at our page on casual or earlier service left out of qualifying service.
Pressing the claim of a worker who has died
Many of these claims are now brought by widows and children, because the worker died while waiting for screening or after retiring on temporary status without pension. The family steps into the worker's claim for arrears and pension, and may have its own claim to family pension if the worker was entitled to pension. The records needed are the same, with three additions: the death certificate, proof of the family relationship such as a ration card or succession certificate, and any nomination the worker made.
Families usually know less about the worker's spells of work than the worker did. Start with his papers at home, then talk to the people he worked with. Old gang mates, a retired postmaster or the union branch secretary of that time often remember the section, the officer and the years, which is exactly what an RTI request needs.
Do not wait for a succession certificate before asking for records. An RTI application in your own name, explaining that you are the widow or child, will often get the documents, and the certificate can follow if the department asks for it before releasing money. If the worker's case was already pending when he died, ask the tribunal to bring the legal heirs on record promptly.
Where the claim is filed
Claims by railway and postal casual workers for temporary status, absorption under the schemes and pension are commonly brought before the Central Administrative Tribunal, at the bench covering the division or postal division where you worked. Some disputes framed as retrenchment or termination have been pursued instead as industrial disputes before the labour machinery. Choose one route after advice, because running both on the same facts causes problems.
Workers of public sector undertakings, such as those engaged by railway PSUs or telecom companies formed out of the old P&T department, generally go to the High Court or the labour machinery, not CAT. Casual workers of state government departments go to the state tribunal or the High Court. Your claim should be filed with the full record table, the RTI replies and the decision rejecting your claim, and should ask for verification and a reasoned order where documents are incomplete.
Time and cost: rough ranges
| Stage | Usual time | Cost in general terms |
|---|---|---|
| RTI for muster rolls, vouchers and register extract | 30 days for the reply; 30 days to file a first appeal | Rs 10 per application plus copying; free copies for BPL applicants |
| Verification by the division or postal division | Often two to six months, longer for old records | No fee |
| Representation and reasoned decision | Up to six months before the tribunal route ordinarily opens | Postage and copies |
| Original Application with a delay condonation application | Delay is often decided first; the main case may take several months to over a year | A small fixed tribunal fee (Rs 50 under Rule 7 of the CAT (Procedure) Rules; ask the registry for the current figure and how to pay) plus copying |
| Fresh verification or decision after a tribunal order | Within the period the order fixes, often three to six months | No fee |
Advocate B.K. Singh's second tip and what to do this week
Advocate B.K. Singh's second piece of advice is to find the co-worker. In old casual labour claims, the most useful bridge is often a fellow worker from the same gang or office who was absorbed: his absorption order names the same unit and officer, and his service record shows the department did engage workers there at that time. Ask that person for a copy of his order and a signed statement, while he is still able to give one.
This week, make your table of work spells, gather whatever papers you hold, and send the representation and RTI applications described above, naming each period and section. If you are a family member pressing a deceased worker's pension claim, include the death certificate and proof of your relationship. Our page on temporary status and regularisation claims explains the legal tests once your record is ready.
For advice on your own records or for updates on casual labour rulings, you can contact Advocate B.K. Singh.
Frequently asked questions
My casual labour card is all I have. Is it enough to claim absorption?
Usually not on its own. Railways verify the card against muster rolls, paid vouchers and the casual labour register before accepting it. Ask for those office records by RTI, naming the section and the months, and gather any secondary proof you can.
How many days did railway casual labour need for temporary status?
Open line casual labour generally got temporary status after 120 days of continuous work. Project casual labour came under the Inder Pal Yadav scheme, needing 360 days of continuous work. Check the instructions that applied to your division and period.
What is the live casual labour register?
It is a register kept by the railway division of casual workers discharged for want of work, in order of engagement, for re-engagement and screening. Railway Board instructions fixed cut-off dates for getting names included. Ask the division for an extract showing your name and position.
Can I get pension if I had temporary status but was never regularised?
In Bhikhani Devi v. Union of India (2026), the Supreme Court held that postal casual labourers with temporary status and long service were entitled to pension even without regularisation. Whether it helps you depends on your department, your temporary status date and your length of service. Take advice with your records.
I joined as a casual worker after 1993. Can I use the DoPT 1993 scheme?
No. The Supreme Court in Mohan Pal (2002) held that the 1993 scheme was a one-time measure for those in employment on 10 September 1993. Later workers must rely on other grounds, such as unequal treatment or long engagement for regular work.
The office says my records were destroyed. What can I do?
Ask by RTI for the weeding register and the order under which they were destroyed. Gather secondary proof such as bank entries, ID cards and co-workers' absorption orders. A tribunal can direct verification through other records where the department's own papers are gone.
Is a claim from the 1980s too old to file now?
Delay is a serious obstacle, and a reply to a fresh representation does not revive an old claim. Pension claims are treated as continuing, while claims to absorption decades ago are not. Explain the delay honestly and take advice before filing.
I worked through a contractor at a railway station. Am I casual labour?
Usually not. Workers engaged through a contractor are treated as the contractor's employees, and railway casual labour schemes do not cover them. Their remedies generally lie under the labour laws, not before the tribunal.
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M. More than twenty years in practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court and other High Courts, the Central Administrative Tribunal and other tribunals. This guide was written and reviewed by his team.
This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. For advice on your own papers, contact the team.
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