Indian Railway Personal Service
The next service we are going to discuss about the Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS). It is also one among the services of group A. It is the youngest of all the Group A services as it was Inaugurated in the year 1976. The officers of the cadre are appointed through the UPSC examination. The first batch of the officers were recruited in the year 1980. the Human Resources of the Indian Railways are being managed by the officers of this service. The IRPS cadre consists of nearly 400 officers in it’s authorized group
Eligibility criteria:
The eligibility criteria is same as that of other services. Let’s see a quick recap.
- Candidates should be citizens of either India, Nepal, Bhutan. A Tibetan refugee is also accepted.
- Migrants from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia etc. are also eligible
- The minimum and maximum age for the candidates are 21 years and 30 years, respectively. As seen for the other services there are also Relaxable age limits recognized categories.
- A candidate must possess at least a degree from any recognized university .
Note: The maximum number of attempts for General Category Candidates is 6 attempts.
For OBC and Physically handicapped candidates 9 attempts and No restriction for SC/ST candidates.
Roles and responsibilities:
- To co-coordinate actions such as reservation, prices, salaries, income and final payment.
- To take part in Public Welfare activities and grievance redressed.
- To accomplish the tasks corresponding to Personnel Management like manpower planning, appointment, coaching and training, promotions, transfer, posting, etc.
- To take care of all issues pertaining to the welfare of the staff such as provision of residential accommodation, canteens, vacation homes, consumer communities, etc.
- To Participate in industrial relations development
- To Oversee the accurate enactment of labor laws and guaranteeing the welfare activities of workers and employees of Indian Railways.
- To Deal and look after pension disbursal to retired employees.
- To engage personnel in sports and health welfare schemes and activities.
- To conduct censuses on feasible transfers and posting for the present financial year.
- To approve the cultural activities of people and committing them in several socio-cultural events as part of the department functionary.
- To recruit and train faculty into the Railway departments.
- To Observe staff vacancies in numerous departments.
- To Address promotions and allotting seniority to cadres based on achievements and seniority Characteristics.
Salary details :
The below gives the salary details for the respective grades of officers
| Grade | Basic pay |
| Junior time scale officer | Between 8000 and 13500 |
| Selection time senior scale officer | Between 10000 and 15200 |
| Junior administrative grade officer | Between 12000 and 16500 |
| Selection grade officer | Between 14300 and 18300 |
| Senior administrative grade officer | Between 18400 and 22400 |
| Higher administrative grade officer | Between 22400 and 24500 |
| Higher grade officers | Fixed pay of 26000 |
Training Periods:
Once the candidates successfully pass the UPSC, they are enlisted directly into the training. The extensive training is carried over for almost 93 weeks.
First stage: Training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for administration happens for 15 weeks in Mussourie.
Second stage: Increased phase training for officers occurs first in the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) located at Vadodara.
Third stage: Then the inducts take up the technical training again at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussourie.
Fourth stage: This is then taken to National Academy for Direct Taxes (NADT) at Nagpur.
After all these stages the officers are taken to fieldwork to exclusive management organizations and institutions where they are empowered with live sessions and interactive meetings to train them to govern human resources and personnel
Career prospects:
After completing the training, the officers may be given different posts in different divisions.
1. In Railway Division they play their role as
- Senior Division Personnel Officer
- Assistant Personnel Officer
- Divisional Personnel Officer
2. In Zonal Division of Railways they are posted as
- Assistant Personnel Officer
- Senior Personnel Officer
- Deputy Chief Personnel Officer
3. They play their role as Headed by Chief Personnel Officer in Zonal Headquarters
4.And as Headed by Principal HOD in Zonal Railway Unit.
Apart from this they also play other roles like
- Additional Divisional Railway Manager
- Divisional Railway Manager
- Chairman of the Railway Board
- General Manager of Administration
