Immediately after his regularisation as Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar on Thursday fast-tracked the process to end ad hocism, and fill vacant posts at the higher levels within the next few days.

During his brief interaction with reporters, Mr. Kumar said the three vacant posts of Member in the Railway Board would be filled soon.
The proposal for the first post – that of Finance Commissioner – was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, along with that of Mr. Kumar.
The urgent need for a regular Finance Commissioner is to set the ball rolling for the preparation of the Railway Budget for 2014-15. The post has been looked after on an ad hoc basis for more than three months now. The names for Member Mechanical – the post which Mr. Arunendra Kumar is holding as additional charge, and Member Staff – which is vacant following the arrest of Mahesh Kumar in a bribery case, are also likely to be cleared soon.
According to sources, Mahesh Kumar has submitted a petition to revoke his suspension, following his release on bail. Officials said a three-member committee, to be set up by Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, will take up the matter in December.
The committee will take a decision after seeking the opinion of the CBI, which is investigating the case that led to the resignation of Pawan Bansal as Railway Minister.