Railways withdraws request to UPSC to recruit Grade A officers under various cadres

The move has set the ball rolling for the merger of the right railway cadres into one service, as per a letter written by the board.

The Railway Board has withdrawn its request to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the recruitment of Group A officers under various cadres. The move has set the ball rolling for the merger of the eight railway cadres into one service, as per a letter written by the board.

The development has emerged amid Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav’s meeting with various cadres wherein he talked about the various benefits of the proposed cadre merger.

Through a letter dated January 9, the Board has said that indents for nine organized services including the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE), Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME),  Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE), Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS), Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) through the Engineering Services Examination 2020 and the Civil Services Examination 2020 were advised, but they were later withdrawn following the cabinet’s decision to merge the cadres.

The request made to UPSC by the Railways Board mentions that with the Cabinet’s decision to introduce the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) from the next recruitment cycle, the Ministry has decided to withdraw its indents for above services except for the Indian Railway Protection Force Services (IRPFS), also known as RPF, through the Engineering Services Examination 2020 and Civil Services Examination 2020.  It also mentioned that the UPSC and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) are “requested to take the necessary action.”

Technical personnel from mechanical, civil and other engineering services are currently recruited through the Engineering Services Examination while for the non-technical posts, the candidates are selected through the Civil services exam.

As per an official, after the merger, all those from engineering service can go to occupy any position but the positions that require engineering background cannot be held, as it will limit the promotions.

Many Railway officers have also pointed out the difficulty about the eligibility criteria for the proposed IRMS as a mechanical engineer wouldn’t be considered fit for civil engineering. Similarly, for those coming from a humanities background may be good for administration and coordination.

The government has said that the newly recruited officers will come from engineering and non-engineering disciplines as per need, following the Cabinet decision to merge the cadres.

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