The Railway Ministry has put on hold appointment of officers to fill vacancies at the highest level. File.
| Photo Credit: Biswaranjan Rout
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.
Unified service
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.
After direct recruitment to the Railways through IES and SCRA stopped and delay in placing indents to the UPSC, no direct recruit officer joined the organisation in a working post after the 2019 batch. The batch recruited under the IRMS is awaiting postings, the sources said.
Confusion prevails in the empanelment for appointment of Level 16 and 17 officers since those who entered the railways through CSE got expeditious promotions and were placed much higher than their batchmates who joined services through IES, a senior railway officer said.
Another officer said the minimum seniority grade required for empanelment to Level 16 and 17 was Higher Administrative Grade or Level 15. In the 1989 and 1990 batches, which were called upon to apply for Level 16 and 17, there were hardly any officers from the Indian Engineering Sevices (IES) officer who had reached Level 15.
“So, even as they held their seniority on par with CSE entrants they would be deprived of the opportunity for applying to Level 16 and 17 posts in the first attempt,” the officer who requested not to be quoted said.
