Railway Ministry puts on hold appointments to top posts 

Railway Ministry halts appointments at top levels due to resentment among officers, introducing unified service for smooth functioning.

The Railway Ministry has put on hold appointment of officers to fill vacancies at the highest level — Level 17 (Chairman/Member, Railway Board) and 16 (General Managers).

The Ministry had issued a notification on August 13, 2024, inviting applications from eligible officers of the 1989 and 1990 batch for empanelment to Level 16 and 17 posts of Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS). A link was also sent to eligible officers to submit their applications to the notification. 

However, on August 16, 2024, a circular was issued to all railway establishments that a decision was taken to put the appointments on hold. The application link enabled on Human Resources Management System was also deactivated, sources in the railways told The Hindu on Tuesday.

One of the reasons for the withdrawal of the notification, the sources said, was simmering resentment among railway officers who entered service through Indian Engineering Services (IES). Their grievance was that only a few officers of their stream were eligible for the top posts while a majority who qualified were those who joined the railways after clearing the Civil Services Examination (CSE). 

Officers entered railway service through three streams — the CSE, IES and Special Class Railway Apprentice (SCRA). In addition to this were officers who got promoted from ranks. 

The sources said these officers joined various departments such as Traffic, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Personnel, Accounts, Stores etc which were vertically separated from top to bottom and headed by a Member, Railway Board, who is a Secretary-level officer. 

Since there was often a turf war as these departments functioned independently, leading to issues relating to “departmentalism”, the Union government decided to introduce a unified service called the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) to promote smooth working of the railways and create a coherent vision for the organisation.