In a major policy change, young officers of the Indian Railways will now have to spend first 10 years of their service in the field mandatorily before being eligible to be posted at the headquarters, the Railway Board has said. Currently, even new officers could be posted at the headquarters. These officers are recruited through the highest recruitment body - Union Public Service Commission.
Sources said the decision has been taken to ensure that officers have enough experience at the field-level before making their way to cushy posts in the HQ. “In order to ensure adequate exposure of field working to Direct Recruit Group ‘A Railway officers, it has been decided that for the initial 10 years of their service, directly recruited Group ‘A’ Railway Officers shall normally be posted in field and shall not be posted in the headquarters,” the order issued by the Railway Board said.
Notably, addressing a meeting after a derailment in Andhra Pradesh recently, Railway Board Chairman A K Lahoti had asked general managers and divisional railway managers from across India to go to the accident sites themselves and seek solutions.
“Field postings are strenuous and demanding and is more productive for railways. It also readies young officers for challenges that they might encounter and help in their decision-making,” the officials said explaining the idea behind the decision.