New minister undertakes major revamp of Railways bureaucracy; 33 joint secy-level officials appointed

A month after a new minister took charge at Rail Bhavan, the Indian Railways has undertaken a major revamp at the crucial Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) level.

Total 33 new DRMs (equivalent to civil service joint secretaries) have been appointed and are set to take charge soon. An order regarding the reshuffle was issued by the ministry a short while back.

The scale of the exercise is significant considering the appointments, which include promotions, were pending since some time before minister Piyush Goyal was replaced by Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Sources said the appointment of the DRMs, who are crucial operational executives across the sprawling Railways network, was driven by seniority, a crucial element in the cadre-driven, hierarchical organisation.

The new appointments have been made in divisions across the country including Delhi, Lucknow and Chennai, among others.

A DRM is the administrative head of a railway division overseeing operations, maintenance of track, locomotives, coaches, wagons, station buildings and other railway assets under the division.

The railway ministry spokespersons were not available for comment till the time of publication.

Meanwhile, Railways has issued a statement, saying: “DRMs have a fixed tenure of 2 years. Through this order, old DRMs are replaced. (These are) Usual time bound orders.”

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