Railway Minister seeks higher pay scale from 7th CPC for railway officers

Suresh Prabhu seeks higher pay scale for railway top brass

NEW DELHI: Seeking higher salary for top brass of the national transporter, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has written to Chairman of the Seventh Pay Commission, recommending elevation of senior most officials of railways at par with IAS cadres in terms of status and rank.

Minister has written to 7th Pay Commission for higher pay scale for the posts of Chairman Railway Board (CRB), Members of Railway Board and General Managers (GM) of zonal railways, a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the development said today.

Though it is a an old demand from Railway Board to make the GM’s post equal to that of a state’s chief secretary and the CRB’s pay scale same as that of the Cabinet Secretary but getting the Railway Minister to recommend for it has made the case stronger, the officer said.

The CRB and Members the Railway Board, who belong to various cadres like the Railway Mechanical/Electrical/ Traffic/Engineering Services and the Indian Audits and Accounts Service, are currently ranked equivalent to a secretary to the government of India.

Besides the CRB, the Railway Board as the top most body of the public transporter includes six Members including the Financial Commissioner, Member Traffic, Member Mechanical, Member Engineering, Member Electrical and Member Staff.

Director Generals of Railway Health Services and Railway Protection Force are also considered to be part of the top railway bureaucracy.

If the 7th Pay Commission headed by justice Ashok Kumar Mathur accepts the recommendation, then the CRB will get the rank of the Chief of Army, who enjoy near-parity with the Cabinet Secretary, the country’s top most IAS officer.

At present, CRB is an ex-officio Principal Secretary to the government, his pay scale is equal to that of any other departmental secretary and the other six members of the Railway Board who have the rank of ex-officio secretary to the Government of India.

Prabhu has also recommended for GMs, railway zonal chiefs to be elevated to the rank of chief secretaries of the States.