Civil service Probationars in Railways have requested re-allotment of service from the DoPT/UPSC

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The IRMS, the way it is conceived, is not what we signed up for. We want to join some other civil service as per our preferences indicated -An probationar

Railways civil service probationers to seek re-allotment: Trouble over cadre merger

Probationers and to be probationar of a civil service in railway have requested re-allotment of service from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), unwilling to work in the soon-to-be formalised Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS). Now more trouble is brewing in Railways over the decision to merge eight services into one.

A probationer from the 2017 batch, who is yet to be formally deployed, said that the batch of more than 40 young officers wants the government to let them revisit their Detail Application Forms (DAF), wherein Civil Services Examination (CSE) Candidates indicate the choice of services they would like to join in order of preference.

“The IRMS, the way it is conceived, is not what we signed up for. We want to join some other civil service as per our preferences indicated,” said a young officer.

A unique petition are being finalised and send to the all concerned including PMO, PM & MR. This batch will formally be deployed in 2021. The batch senior to this one, which will be deployed in May 2020, is also following suit.

“We want to exhaust all internal avenues of redressal so that the government or the courts cannot turn that against us when we approach them,” said an officer.

A pan-railway Civil Services Officers’ Association is being revived to represent all three services – Traffic, Accounts and Personnel. This association, which was attempted to be formed around four years ago, is aimed to get these services “a seat on the table” as a permanent negotiation mechanism (PNM) with the Railways’ establishment, an officer said.

Chairman, Railway Board has said that the mechanism to merge services will be such that no existing officer loses out on either seniority or promotion prospects – CRB V K Yadav has called a meeting of all senior officers of the Railway Board to address their concerns on a variety of issues – the assurance has not cut much ice till now.

In between, a seemingly routine administrative decision to give the Member Traction, an Electrical officer, the charge to look after the post of Member Staff has caused a flutter.

Viewed in the context of the impending merger, protesting officers are alleging departmentalism since the government encadred the Member Staff post for the Personnel service only recently.

“They should have given the look-after charge to the seniormost officer in the Personnel service, which is logical,” said a protesting officer.

Information is being collected from across batches to make the point that a large number of civil servants left Railways Engineering service even after serving for a few years after they cracked the Civil Services Examination and joined back as civil servants either in Traffic, Accounts or Personnel.

This is to underscore the argument that the status of a civil servant is coveted and well accepted even among engineers.

“I lost three years of seniority as an engineer in another govt organization to join here as a civil servant. No one took my consent before changing my service”, said an officer.