Lok Sabha Question No. 125 (STARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: Divisional Railway Managers
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: T.R.V.S. Ramesh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 125 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2019

## DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGERS

## *125.  SHRI T.R.V.S. RAMESH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of guidelines for short listing and posting of Divisional Railway Managers in the Indian Railway [No. E(O) (III2016/p2/02 dated 16.08.2016)];
- (b) the reasons for the absence of guiding principles for exercise of discretion  by  Chairman,  Railway  Board  in  clause  3.1  of  the above guidelines;
- (c) the  meaning  and  scope  of  the  expression  'Public  Interest' occurring in clause 15 of the above guidelines;
- (d) whether the expression 'Public Interest' mentioned in Clause 15 of the above guidelines includes providing opportunity for career advancement  to  highly motivated officers  who  have  been consistently  given  'outstanding  grade'  in  Annual  Confidential Reports  for  a  long  period  i.e.,  8-10  years  by  giving  them  age relaxation and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether relaxations  under  clause  15  of  above  guidelines  have been given to any officer and if so, the details thereof along with the grounds for such relaxations?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF STARRED  QUESTION  NO.125  BY  SHRI  T.R.V.S.  RAMESH  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  27.11.2019  REGARDING  DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGERS

- (a) Guidelines governing short-listing and posting of Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) were notified vide Ministry of Railways' communication No. E(O)III/2016/PL/02 dated 16.08.2016. A copy of the guidelines is appended.
- (b) Exigencies, by their very nature, are unforeseen and cannot be anticipated. Therefore, it is not feasible to define the principles for exercise of discretion.  Moreover, exercise of such discretion is subject to approval of Minister of Railways.

(c)&(d)  Public  interest,  in  the  context  of  decision  of  Government, means the furtherance of welfare of general public and society at large, as against the interest of an individual.  The guidelines do not specifically include age relaxation.

- (e) No relaxation has been granted under Clause 15 after the policy guidelines have been notified on 16.08.2016.

*****

APPENDIX  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  STARRED QUESTION NO. 125 BY SHRI T.R.V.S. RAMESH TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 27.11.2019 REGARDING DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGERS

No: E(O)III-2016/PL/02

New Delhi, dt. 16.08.2016

## GUIDELINES FOR SHORTLISTING AND POSTING OF DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGERS (DRMs) IN THE INDIAN RAILWAYS

In  supersession  of  the  existing  policy  guidelines  on  the  above subject,  the  following  guidelines  for  short  listing  and  posting  of Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs), total 68 in number, in the Indian Railways have been approved by the competent authority.

1. Officers belonging to the following eight (08) Group 'A' Railway Services will be considered for short listing for the posts of DRMs:-
- a) Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE);
- b) Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS);
- c) Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME);
- d) Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE);
- e) Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE);
- f) Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS);
- g) Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS) ; &
- h) Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS).
2. The posts of Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) are in Senior Administrative  (SA)  Grade  (Pay  Band-4,  Rs.  37,600  -  67,000/-  with Grade Pay of Rs.  10,000/-), as  revised  from  time  to  time.  Posting  as DRM  is  not  a  promotion  but  a  posting  in  the  same  grade,  i.e.,  SA Grade,  without  conferring  any  additional  pecuniary  benefit.  Officers are shortlisted for posting as DRMs, on recognition of the fact that the task is arduous in nature and that DRM is the overall in-charge of the

Division dealing with all aspects of Railway operations. Upon completion of their term as DRMs, the Officers are brought back to the same SA Grade.

3. Railway Services which are directly involved in train operations will  hold  more  slots  of  DRMs  in  relation  to  Services  not  directly involved in train operations. However, at one time the officers of one Service  would  occupy  minimum  two  (02)  posts  and  not  more  than fourteen (14) posts of DRMs. The existing 68 posts of DRMs shall be divided amongst the 08 Group' A' Railway Services as under.-
2. 3.1 Depending upon exigencies, some readjustment of posts amongst different services could be done by Chairman, Railway Board, with the approval of Hon'ble Minister of Railways.
4. Service-wise short listing shall be done in the order of seniority in  the  ratio  of  1.5  times  the  number  of  vacancies  occurring  in  the panel year for that particular Service. The short listing would be done by  a  Committee  comprising  of  Chairman,  Railway  Board,  Member, Railway  Board  of  the  Service  for  which  short  listing  is  being  done, Member (Staff) and Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training. In  case  of  IRPS  for  which  Member  (Staff)  is  the  Board  Member

| Service                                                |   No. of posts |
|--------------------------------------------------------|----------------|
| Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE)             |             14 |
| Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)                  |             14 |
| Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) |             14 |
| Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE) |             10 |
| Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE)     |             06 |
| Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)                 |             04 |
| Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS)                   |             04 |
| Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)                |             02 |

concerned,  another  Board  Member  shall  be  nominated  by  Chairman, Railway Board.

5. Officers  being  considered  for  short  listing  as  DRMs  should  be less than 52 years of age as on 1st July of the year for which the short list is being made. A short listed officer can be posted as DRM within the  period  of  currency  of  the  short  list,  even  if  at  the  point  of  his actual posting as DRM, he has crossed the age of 52 years. Once short listed  for  a  particular  year,  officers  will  be  posted  to  vacancies earmarked for their Service arising in that year, strictly in the order of their seniority in their respective cadre.
6. Officers  to  be  posted  as  DRMs  should  have  been  assessed  at least  as  'Very  Good+'  in  their  ACRs/APARs.  They  should  have  been assessed as 'Outstanding' at least twice during the preceding 05 (five) years and should have a minimum of 02 (two) clearances for posting as  DRM,  including  one  clearance  in  the  latest  ACR/APAR  or  should have a minimum of 03 (three) clearances including 1 (one) in the latest 02 (two) ACRs/APARs.
7. The Short Lists of DRMs will cater to the requirement of DRMs arising during the period of 1 st  of July of a particular year to 30 th  June of the following year, irrespective of the date of approval of the Short List. In other words, the currency/validity of a particular Short List will not  begin  from  the  date  of  its  approval,  but  will  be  valid  for  the requirements from 1 st  of July to 30 th  of June. In case the requirements up to 30 th  June are not filled, such requirements will only be filled from the same Short List which has been made for such requirements, even after 30 th  June.
8. In  order  to  meet  any  sudden/unforeseen  requirement  of  DRM from any Service/s, which cannot be met from the existing Short List,

the competent authority may decide to prepare a Supplementary Short List by following the same procedure.

9. If an officer is not short listed for the post of DRM in a particular panel  year  on  account  of  his/her  not  coming  within  the  zone  of consideration or having below bench mark APAR grading, he/she shall be  considered  for  short  listing  in  the  subsequent  panel  year(s), provided he/she continues to fulfill the prescribed eligibility criteria.
10. At the time of inclusion in the Short List as well as at the time of actual posting as DRM, officers should be clear from Vigilance angle. Since the post of DRMs are sensitive posts, officers who are not clear from  Vigilance  angle  will  not  be  considered  for  short-listing  and posting as DRM.
11. Officers who refuse posting as DRMs will not be considered for DRM's posting for a period of two years from the date of refusal.
12. Only such officers who fulfill all the above mentioned eligibility conditions  as  on  1 st   of  July  of  the  year  in  which  the  Short  List  is prepared shall be considered for posting as DRM. Once the Short List has  been  prepared  and  approved  by  the  competent  authority,  no officer shall be considered for short listing/posting as DRM even if he happens to fulfill the eligibility conditions at a later point of time.
13. Restoration of seniority because of any reason shall not bestow a right to be shortlisted as DRM, if not meeting the criteria as on 1 st July of the year for which Short List is prepared.
14. The normal tenure of DRMs will be around 2-3 years. There may be cases where an officer shortlisted for the post of DRM is due for promotion to HA Grade when his turn comes for posting as DRM. There may also be cases where an officer, after posting as DRM, becomes

due  for  promotion  to  HA  Grade  in  his  cadre.  In  such  cases,  the following procedure will be applied:

- (a) No officer will be posted as DRM in HAG, nor the post of DRM will be operated in HAG.
- (b) After posting as DRM, if his/her turn comes for promotion to HAG,  and  the  officer  decides  to  return  to  his/her  cadre  for availing  promotion  to  HAG  without  completing  minimum  15 months' tenure as DRM, his tenure as DRM will not qualify for consideration for the post of GM (OL).
- (c)  In  case  he/she  continues  as  DRM  till  completion  of  the minimum tenure, his/her seniority in HAG will remain unaffected.
15. Notwithstanding  anything  contained  in  these  policy  guidelines, the competent authority may make relaxation to one or more of the aforesaid conditions in a suitable case, keeping in view the administrative  requirements  and  public  interest  after  recording  the reasons in writing.
16. For the purpose of interpretation/application of the above mentioned Guidelines, the decision of the Ministry of Railways shall be final.
17. These Guidelines will come into force from the panel year 2016-17.

Sd/-

( R.K.Verma )

Secretary, Railway Board

****