Factors Influencing Trainees’ Perceptions of the Project Saksham Training Programme in a Public Sector Railway Organisation in India

Project Saksham; Training Effectiveness; Trainees’ Perceptions; Training Content; Training Facilitators; Indian Railways.

Purpose – Project Saksham is a workforce training initiative introduced by Indian Railways to upgrade employees’ skills and domain knowledge. This study examines whether five training-related factors—training content, training resources, training schedule, training environment and training facilitators—significantly predict trainees’ perceptions of the programme in a public-sector railway organisation in India.

Methodology – A quantitative research design was adopted. Data were collected from 294 employees (209 males and 85 females) using an online questionnaire comprising 25 items. Principal component analysis was used to examine the underlying structure of the measures, followed by multiple regression analysis using SPSS 23.

Findings – The regression model was statistically significant and explained 60.2 per cent of the variance in trainees’ perceptions (R² = 0.602; adjusted R² = 0.595). All five training-related factors were significant positive predictors. Training Facilitators had the largest standardised coefficient (β = 0.320), followed by Training Environment (β = 0.183), Training Schedule (β = 0.173), Training Resources (β = 0.138) and Training Content (β = 0.103).

Practical implications – The findings highlight the relevance of content, resources, scheduling, learning environment and facilitator effectiveness in training delivery.

Originality/value – The study provides empirical evidence on training-related factors associated with trainee perceptions in a large public-sector railway context.