Jaya Varma Sinha’s appointment as Indian Railways’ first woman Chairperson & CEO may signal arrival of new era

At a time when the winds of change are blowing in the Indian Railways, the world’s fifth-largest rail transporter saw the appointment of Jaya Varma Sinha as the first woman Chairperson & CEO of the Railway Board, Friday. 

The Board, which oversees the day-to-day management of the humongous Indian Railways network, other than the Chairperson & CEO comprises seven other members, a Financial Commissioner nominated by the Ministry of Finance and a Director General of the Railway Health Services, Personnel and Railway Protection Force. The Board was constituted under The Indian Railways Board Act, 1905.
 
Prior to her appointment being cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Varma was working as a Member of Operations and Business Development of the Board and was tasked with the overall transportation of freight and passenger services.

It was during this period that she first came into the limelight when she conducted several successful media briefings in the immediate aftermath of the train mishap in Odisha’s Balasore district that left 295 dead and over 1,200 injured.

Despite securing a top rank in the civil services examination, Varma chose to join the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) in 1988, a vertical that hardly had any women employees at the time. After completing her training, she was posted in the Allahabad Division of Northern Railway as Divisional Commercial Manager.

In a career spanning more than three decades, she has worked in several areas spanning operations, commercial, IT and vigilance. She was specially commended for her role in the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) – the body set up to provide the Railways with a strong IT backbone – as well as the development of the Freight Operations Information System (FOIS).

She was also the first woman to be appointed as the Principal Chief Operations Manager of the South Eastern Railway. She was the Railway Advisor at the High Commission of India in Dhaka when the famous Maitri Express from Kolkata to Dhaka was inaugurated in April 2008.

Varma has taken charge at a time when the Indian Railways modernisation has been put on the fast track with several big-ticket projects such as the construction of new lines, station redevelopment, dedicated freight corridors, Vande Bharat trains and the development of the country’s first bullet train corridor are underway. While ensuring the time-bound execution of those projects, she will also be required to address the issue of railway safety on priority.

The Railways’ capex has increased from Rs 53,989 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2,60,200 crore in 2023-24, which is the highest by far. Similarly, gross budgetary support to the Railways for capex has increased from Rs 28,174 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2,40,000 crore in 2023-24, which is more than eight times.

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