Do you want to know about Group-A officers of Railways?
The group-A officers of Railways run the entire machinery right from train running to policy formulation to technical stuffs to revenue collections. They form the backbone of this grand old organisation.
These Group-A officers are recruited by the highest recruitment body i.e UPSC, Union Public Service Commission. However, as the requirements of railways consist of technical, non-technical and medical oriented, these group-A officers join through three different exams into railways.
The technical service officers are recruited by Engineering services Exam, The non-Technical service officers are recruited by Civil services Exam and Railway Medical officers join through Medical Services Exam.
Technical officers
The technical officers join through Engineering Services Exam conducted by UPSC every year and officers join in various technical departments of Railways as Engineering, Electrical, Mechanical, Signal & Telecom and stores. Civil engineering in railways is called the engineering department. The Electronics and Telecom guys manage the Signal and Telecom department of railways. The electrical department is managed by electrical officers and Mechanical officers look after the Carriage & Wagons department. The stores department directly related to the procurement of various materials required for day to day requirements are headed by stores officers who join from various engineering disciplines.The railway services are mostly preferred by the officers through the Engineering Services Exam. http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/view_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,1,304,366,530
The various service names of these Technical Group-A services are as under:-
- IRSE( Indian Railway Service of Engineers) These officers are responsible for managing the engineering department of Indian Railways.
- IRSSE( Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers)- They look after the signalling and Telecom department of railways.
- IRSME (Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers) they look after the carriage and wagons department, Diesel locomotives etc.
- IRSEE( Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers) They look after the electrical General department, Railway TRD department which maintains the 25KV OHE wire and electrical loco as well their drivers.
- IRSS( Indian Railway Stores Service) They manage the stores department of railways and look after the bulk purchases required for day to day expenses.
Non- Technical officers
The non- technical officers join through the Civil Services conducted by UPSC every year that recruits officers in IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, other departments as well as railway departments. As per choice options in civil services in civil services exam 2018, the railway services were opted from 277th rank candidates out of 759 candidates.https://cseplus.nic.in/Home/ServiceAllocation.
The non-technical officers manage the non-technical departments of Indian Railways as Commercial department, Accounts department, Traffic department and Railway Protection Forces.
These officers are as below:-
- IRTS( Indian Railway Traffic service)-The IRTS officers manage the traffic and commercial department of Indian Railways. The station masters, pointsman, guard belong to traffic department and TTE, reservation and bookings clerks belong to commercial departments.
- IRAS( Indian Railway Accounts Service)– They manage the railways finances and handle the accounts department of Indian Railways.
- IRPS( Indian Railway Personnel Service)– They manage the Human Resource department i.e personnel department. They interact with railways unions and conducts transfer, posting of staffs.
- RPF GrA (Railway Protection Force)– They wear uniforms and manage the RPF of Indian railways.
Railway Doctors
Indian Railway Health Services (IRHS)- They are recruited through combined medical services conducted by UPSC every year. The IRHS services were earlier called as IRMS i.e Indian railway Medical Services. However, after the merger of 8 Group-A services into IRMS i.e Indian Railway Management services, the name has been changed to IRHS.
Railways IRHS is also favourite among the doctors of Combined medical services. You can check the allocation through this link.
The Group-A officers in Railways work in close coordination for the development of Indian Railways as a whole. The Indian Railways will always prosper if young minds join through the prestigious exams conducted by UPSC.