Prabhu’s Mulls To Appoint Top Railway Posts On Merit

New Delhi: Railway minister Suresh Prabhu is mulling for appointment of the top posts of divisional railway managers and general managers on the basis of merit.

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu

Prabhu wants to place efficient officers in cutting-edge posts, the plan is to introduce performance and merit in the selection process for DRMs and GMs who are instrumental in implementation of infrastructure.

Top level railway appointments were mired in controversy in the recent past due to alleged fixing to get plum assignments, highlighted by the arrest of railway board member Mahesh Kumar and delay in filling a large number of vacancies.

“The current system of appointments is based on seniority and ACRs. But in ACRs, it is found that most of the officials are rated as ‘outstanding’,” a rail official said.

The focus of the railway leadership under Prabhu is to make the appointment process for DRMs transparent and performance-oriented.

As per the plan, being conceptualised by top authorities, aspirants for the post of DRM may have to face interview or an interaction with a bigger selection board or panel and may have to present a roadmap for the two-year tenure as the head of a division.

“The aspirants have to come out with a plan for development of stations within the division he wants to be posted and also the strategy to boost railway business,” said an official.

“The roadmap or plan presented by the aspirants would also be used for their performance appraisal at the end of the tenure,” he added.

Inputs with TNN