New Delhi: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the Indian Railways is paying a “heavy price” for his experiments.
His remarks followed a report by ThePrint, which highlighted concerns among probationers of the Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS)—established in 2019 by merging eight services—about the government’s potential plan to split it again into technical and non-technical services to address a shortage of technical expertise.
“First the non-biological PM merged. Then the railways got submerged. Now He is planning to demerge. The Indian Railways is paying a heavy price for such experiments,” Ramesh wrote on social media platform X.
Taking a jibe at Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, he added in his post, “Engineering is at the very heart of managing the railway system, and the sooner it is restored to its distinctive position, the better. The ‘Reel Mantri’ should know this better than anyone else, especially since he holds two engineering degrees himself.”
According to ThePrint’s report, around 40 probationers have reportedly sent representations to the Railway Board, expressing concerns over the potential fragmentation of the IRMS.
In 2022, the eight service cadres of Indian Railways (IR) were merged into one—IRMS. According to the government press release announcing the organisational restructure of the Indian Railways in 2019, the aim of the unification was to “end departmentalism, promote smooth working of Railways, expedite decision making, create a coherent vision for organisation and promote rational decision making”.
Before the merger, the railway services were divided into two main categories: non-technical civil services and technical engineering services. The non-technical civil services included three branches—Railway Accounts, Railway Traffic and Railway Personnel. The technical engineering services consisted of five branches—Engineering, Signal Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Stores Services.
Two batches of the IRMS—2022 and 2023—have been successfully recruited. Recruitment for the third batch through the Civil Services Examination 2024 is currently in progress. However, recruitment of railway officers through the Indian Engineering Services (IES) exam has been discontinued since 2022.
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In this instance, Modi us not at fault. It is entirely Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw’s failure. He has failed to effectively carry out reforms in Railways. He is always busy making presentations on behalf of the govt and making reels of his interactions with Railway passengers.
Modi must replace him someone who can carry forward his vision.