Merging of Cadres in Rlys is the most Idiotic and Disastrous step

The present Minister for Railways doesn’t understand head or tail of Railways!

Merging of cadres to end departmentalism is like cutting the nose to spite the face!!

Indra Ghosh*

Merging of Cadres in Railways is the most Idiotic and Disastrous step anybody can think of and implement in Indian Railways. Railway working is extremely specialized, and the present Minister for Railways doesn’t understand head or tail of Railways. The top brass in Railways, being steeped in the culture of ‘Yes Sir’, will not have the guts to argue against it, leave alone oppose it.

The only argument given in favour of the merging of cadres is that it’ll end departmentalism. Yes, there is departmentalism in Indian Railways, just like in any other organization; but the remedy for that is something else, not merging of cadres.

Departmentalism in Indian Railways has increased in recent years because we’ve been unable to select the right officers for our top posts, and mostly non-performers are rising to the top merely on the basis of their APARs and Birth Certificates.

Merging of cadres to end departmentalism is like cutting the nose to spite the face.

Merging of cadres will result in the biggest disaster that can befall Indian Railways. An officer who has been trained for 30+ years to work in the Stores Service, can he be put in charge as Principal Chief Engineer (PCE)? Such things can become possible in future if we again have a Stores Officer as Chairman, Railway Board (CRB). Thereafter, what is there to prevent an IAS officer from being posted as General Manager and CRB?

This Minister for Railways, CRB and all other top bureaucrats would have merrily retired and gone into oblivion when that disaster befalls Indian Railways; and it would be next to impossible to retrieve the situation.

Railway system is similar to the what exists in the Defence Services. Departmentalism exists even in the Defence Services too. Would anybody ever dream of putting an Infantry Officer, in charge of an Armoured Brigade; or an Artillery Officer, in charge of Infantry? If ‘No’, then why this foolhardiness in Indian Railways?

*Indra Ghosh, is a straightforward IRTS officer and former General Manager of Indian Railways.

Merging of Cadres: This is a ‘hare-brained idea’!

Differences erupt between Minister & Rly Officers’

Officer object Piyush Goyal’s pitches cadre-merger idea

Railway officials call MR’s proposal a ‘very disruptive move’

Two Railway Board Members objected the proposal on the spot

New Delhi: Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal has expressed his desire to open up all posts of the rank of Additional Secretary and upwards in Indian Railways to all eight railway services, virtually abolishing cadre posts and merging the services into one seniority list.

The announcement — for what is being described in the bureaucracy as a “very disruptive move” — came, oddly enough, during a day-long seminar on raising average speed of trains earlier this week. Principal Heads of Departments (PHoDs) and other senior railway officials, some 450 officers of the rank of Additional Secretary and upwards, were present at the event.

Goyal said that the process to discuss this internally should start, and a Cabinet note would be moved with the proposal after that. The Cabinet note will have to be vetted by the UPSC, DoPT and Finance Ministry.

Two Railway Board Members — Member (Traffic) and Member (Traction) — who are cadre-controlling authorities of the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) and Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE), respectively, objected to the proposal on the spot. The minister is learned to have told them that they could communicate their views during internal deliberation.

The political dispensation, it is learned, is of the view that the move would end “departmentalism” in senior bureaucracy, even though an officer from one specialized service is neither trained nor mandated to do the job meant for an officer of another specialized service. It was cited to officers that the Bibek Debroy Committee report on Indian Railways had advocated merger of cadres to address departmentalism.
Since Piyush Goyal pitched the move, various cadre-specific officers’ associations have been preparing their objections to it and even they are prepared to move court, sources said.

Officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the Bibek Debroy committee had advocated the creation of two services — Managerial and Technical — and did not recommend merging of in-service, mid-career top-posts into one seniority list. “It is obvious that an accounts service officer cannot head a department meant for the mechanical engineering cadre and vice versa. This is a hare-brained idea,” said a senior officer.

Railways apply inter-services seniority to post officers such as General Managers in zones, a Higher Administrative Grade-Plus (HAG+) post which is below the rank of Secretary but higher than Additional Secretary. But posts of department heads are en-cadre posts. Even Board Member posts, except Chairman and Member (Staff), are all en-cadre posts. The government is deliberating turning the Member (Staff) post into a cadre post for Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS).

Internal calculation for a combined seniority list shows that a large number of officers would lose their seniority, while many others would supersede their seniors in services to bag posts that they otherwise would not have got. Officers said that those who would lose seniority would go to courts.

Civil servants tend to join service at an older age bracket than their engineering counterparts, as the mode of intake for the two is different. That is why, if a common seniority is applied, engineers would tend to emerge higher, leaving the civil servants behind — traditionally a cause of discontent among civil servants in Railways.

The Additional Secretary-rank posts are the PHoDs, who head each vertical in zones based on specialization like Principal Chief Engineer is meant for officers of Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE), who are inducted through the government engineering service exam. Principal Chief Operations Manager is manned by an IRTS officer inducted through the UPSC civil services exam.

There are similar verticals for accounts manned by Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) officers, Signalling and Telecom for Signalling Engineers cadre, Personnel Management for Personnel Service officers and so on. There are similar HAG posts for each cadre in the ministry looking after specialized functions.

The railways’ group A services include traffic, accounts, personnel in the civil services cadre; mechanical, electrical, civil, signalling, stores in the engineering services cadre; and the RPF, which is also a civil service cadre.

Courtesy: IE