Shortlisting and Posing of Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) in the Indian Railways: Guidelines by Railway Board

Shortlisting and Posing of Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) in the Indian Railways: Guidelines by Railway Board dated 03.09.2024

No.E(O)III-2024/PL/04

New Delhi, dated 03.09.2024

GUIDELINES FOR SHORTLISTING AND POSTING OF DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGERS (DRMs) IN THE INDIAN RAILWAYS

In supersession of the existing policy guidelines on the above subject, the following guidelines for short listing and posting of Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs), total 68 in number, in the Indian Railways have been approved by the competent authority.

1. Officers belonging to the following 8 Group ‘A’ Railway Services will be considered for short
listing for the posts of DRMs:-

a) Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE):
b) Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS);
c) Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME);
d) Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE);
e) Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE):
f) Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS):
g) Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS) &
h) Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS).

2. The posts of Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) are in ex-cadre Senior Administrative Grade (L14) & will be operated in SAG. Posting as DRM is not a promotion but a posting in the same grade, i.e., SA Grade, without conferring any additional pecuniary benefit. Officers are shortlisted for posting as DRMs, on recognition of the fact that the task is arduous in nature and that DRM is the overall in-charge of the Division dealing with all aspects of Railway operations. Upon completion of their term as DRMs, the Officers are brought back to the same SA Grade.

3. Railway Services which are directly involved in train operations will hold more slots of DRMs in relation to Services not directly involved in train operations. However, at one time the officers of one Service would occupy minimum two (02) posts and not more than fourteen (14) posts of DRMs. The existing 68 posts of DRMs shall be divided amongst the 8 Group ‘A’ Railway Services as under:-

3.1 Depending upon exigencies, some readjustment of posts amongst different services could be done by Chairman & CEO, Railway Board with the approval of Hon’ble Minister of Railways.

4. Service-wise short listing shall be done in the order of seniority in the ratio of 1.5 times the number of vacancies occurring in the panel year for that particular Service. The short listing would be done by a Committee comprising of Chairman & CEO, Railway Board, concerned Railway Board Member(or a Member of Railway Board when Chairman, Railway Board is also the functional Member) and Additional Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, nominated by Secretary, DoP&T.

5. Officers being considered for short listing as DRMs should be less than 52 years of age as on 1st January of the vacancy year for which the short list is being made. A short listed officer can be posted as DRM within the period of currency of the short list, even if at the point of his actual posting as DRM, he has crossed the age of 52 years. Once short listed for a particular year, officers will be posted to vacancies earmarked for their Service arising in that year, strictly in the order of their seniority in their respective cadre.

6. Minimum Eligibility criteria. Only those officers shall be considered for drawl of Short-list who meet the following eligibility criteria on 1“ January of the vacancy year:-

(i) Officers should be working in SAG; and
(ii) Should have minimum 15 years in Railways/Railway PSUs; and
(iii) APARs of entire career shal! be taken into consideration; and
(iv) Should have at least 60% ‘Outstanding’ APARs in entire career; and
(v) Should have minimum of five (5) clearances for posting as DRM, in last ten (10) APARs; and
(vi) Should be clear from Vigilance angle both at the time of inclusion in the Short-list as well as at the time of actual posting as DRM. Since the post of DRMs are sensitive posts, officers who are not clear from Vigilance angle will not be considered for short-listing and posting as DRM.

7. The Short-list of DRMs shall cater to the vacancies arising from 1st January of a particular year to 31st December irrespective of the date of finalization of the Short-list. In case the requirements up to 31st December are not filled, such requirements will only be filled from the same Short-list which has been made for such requirements, even after 31 December. Once short listed for a particular year, officers will be posted to vacancies earmarked for their Service arising in that year, strictly in the order of their seniority in their respective cadre.

8. In order to meet any sudden/unforeseen requirement of DRM from any service/s, which cannot be met from the existing Short List, the competent authority may decide to prepare a Supplementary Short List by following the same procedure.

9. If an officer is not short listed for the post of DRM in a particular panel year on account of his/her not coming within the zone of consideration or having below bench mark APAR grading, he/she shall be considered for short listing in the subsequent panel year (s), provided he/she continues to fulfill the prescribed eligibility criteria.

10. Officers who refuse posting as DRMs will not be considered for DRM’s posting for a period of two years from the date of refusal.

11. Only such officers who fulfill all the above mentioned eligibility conditions as on 1st of January of the year in which the Short List is prepared shall be considered for posting as DRM. Once the Short List has been prepared and approved by the competent authority, no officer shall be considered for short listing/posting as DRM even if he happens to fulfill the eligibility conditions at a later point of time.

12. Restoration of seniority because of any reason shall not bestow a right to be shortlisted as DRM, if not meeting the criteria as on 1“ January of the year for which Short List is prepared.

13. The normal tenure of DRMs will be 2-3 years. There may be cases where an officer shortlisted for the post of DRM is due for promotion to HA Grade when his turn comes for posting as DRM. There may also be cases where an officer, after posting as DRM. becomes due for promotion to HA Grade in his cadre. In such cases, the following procedure will be applied:

(a) No officer will be posted as DRM in HAG, nor will the post of DRM be operated in HAG.
(b) After posting as DRM, if his/her turn comes for promotion to HAG, the officer will have option to return to his/her cadre for availing promotion without completing normal tenure as DRM.
(c) Incase he/she continues as DRM till completion of normal tenure, his/her seniority in HAG will remain unaffected.

14. Notwithstanding anything contained in these policy guidelines, the competent authority may make relaxation to one or more of the aforesaid conditions in a suitable case keeping in view the administrative requirements and public interest after recording the reasons in writing.

15. For the purpose of interpretation/application of the above mentioned guidelines the decision of the Ministry of Railways shall be final.

16. These Guidelines will come into force from the Short-list year 2024. Since the Short-list year (1st July of the year to 30th June of next year) is being shifted to calendar year(1st January to 31st December of the year) and the year 2024 being the transitional year, vacancies of 2023-24 shall be reckoned as vacancies for the Short-list year 2024. As a one-time measure, officers who were eligible age-wise as on 01.07.2023 but have become overaged as on 01.01.2024, shall also be eligible to be considered for the Short-list year 2024.

(ARUNA NAYAR)
Secretary, Railway Board