Rly Posts Lie Vacant As Paswan, Kaw Feud
Six of the 18 posts of general manager in the Indian Railways are currently vacant due to delayed selection. There is reportedly also a serious rift between railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Railway Board chairman C L Kaw over the promotion of the entire 1978 batch of 17 senior officers belonging to the traffic service.
The six posts which have fallen vacant from February 1 are for Northern Railways; the Integral Coach Factory at Kapurthala; Chittaranjan Locomotive Works; Metro Railways; the Railway Staff College, Vadodara and Railway Electrification, Allahabad.
The previous general manager of Northern Railways, Shanti Narayan, was recently promoted to Member (Traffic) in the Railway Board. The other posts fell vacant following the retirement of the earlier incumbents. With the general manager of the Diesel Locomotive Works at Varanasi due to retire on February 28, the total number of vacancies is set to rise to seven.
Meanwhile, promotions of the entire 1978 batch of Indian Railway Traffic Service officers have been held up following a serious difference of opinion between Ram Vilas Paswan and C L Kaw over the ministers alleged insistence on promoting three officers with a poor track-record.
The minister is reported to be insisting on promoting these three officers as they belong to the reserved category. But Kaw has taken the stance that the reservation quota benefit cannot apply to promotions. With both Paswan and Kaw sticking to their stands, the entire promotion process has been halted. Kaw is reported to be insisting on vigilance clearance for the candidates to strengthen his objection to the promotion of the three officers.
The delay in filling top slots in the Railways has created a peculiar situation. The general manager of Eastern Railways, A P Murugeshan, who had been also looking after Metro Railways since January 31 was recently hospitalised for a heart ailment. This has put the additional general manager of Eastern Railways, R Chatterjee, in the unenviable position of simultaneously holding two temporary charges. The whole affair has reportedly sparked off questions at the Railways headquarters whether an additional general manager can depute for the general manager of another zonal railway.
Indian Railways has nine zonal railways, namely, the Northern, Southern, Western, Eastern, South-Eastern, Central, South-Central, North-East and the North-East Frontier Railways. Metro Railways is not treated as a full-fledged zone because of its small size and the possibility that it may be handed over to some other Central ministry or even become a corporation owned jointly by the Centre and the state governments.
The railway minister has already announced the formation of six more zones carved out of six existing zonal railways. However, the necessary funds are yet to be sanctioned.