Rightsizing Railway Board: Transfer orders of 50 officers to zones

In a long-pending move aimed at enhancing efficiency, the strength of the Railway Board has been cut down from 200 to 150 with director-level officials and above transferred to zones, according to a government order.

The transfer orders of these 50 officials were issued on Monday, sources said.

"This is part of the prime minister's vision of less bureaucracy. Less government, maximum governance. These officials have gone where their work will be most effectively utilised," a senior official said.

The transferred officers are from across railway cadres - 10 each from IRSE and IRTS, seven from IRAS, six from IRSME, five each from IRSEE and IRSSE, three each from IRSS and IRPS and one from RPF.

The plan was first mooted in 2000 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, which recommended right-sizing of the apex decision making body of the national transporter.

PTI had last month reported that the railway ministry was mulling restructuring the railway board, a move which was part of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal's 100-day agenda and a top priority for present Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav.

Restructuring of the Railway Board was also recommended by the Bibek Debroy Committee on Indian Railways in 2015.

The panel said in its report that the Indian Railways' centralised structure and departmentalisation was adversely affecting the railways' work culture and narrowing its approach to department-specific goals.

"It has always been seen that the railways, including the Railway Board, was overstaffed. This was adversely affecting the efficiency of the organisation," a senior official said.

The official added that there had been no serious attempts to review the exact number of staff actually required by the railways for efficient functioning as well as financial viability.

Restructuring of the Railway Board is just the beginning of an overhaul of the ministry, sources indicated.

In a recent meeting with senior officials of the ministry, Goyal instructed Yadav, Board members and general managers of zones to review staff and to use the surplus only in operational work.

The minister, it is learnt, also said the strength and deployment of peons should be reviewed and only the bare minimum should be deployed.