Yesterday, Sh. P.K.Bansal , Railway Minister ,while addressing the open house of the  executive committee of IRPOF assured the officers that he would take up the matter of granting Grade Pay of Rs.5400/- to all group B officers of railway with m/o Finance again. For the remaining demands, he stated that he was new to this ministry and would understand the different view points as to why the same have not been considered as yet. He assured to have meeting with IRPOF leaders soon.  The meeting was also addressed by Sh.Vinay Mittal, CRB ,Sh.K.K. Srivastva , Member Traffic  and other PREM members. Yet , the speeches do not raise much hopes from administration’s side ,despite  acknowledging the fact that promotee officers are  the back bone of railway system. Let us hold our breath.

Sh.D.N.Varma, Genl.Secy/ERPOA, who was not allowed voting right in last AGM at Mumbai in Dec.2012 was seen welcoming the VIPs on the dais with  Sh.S.S.Parashar, Genl. Secretary /NCRPOA and Sh,G.P.Prabhakar , Genl.Secy/NERPOA.

It was really heartening to see old guards like Sh.S.K.Bansal,Ex-Presdent/IRPOF, Sh.K.Hasan,( who was Secretary General /IRPOF for 14 long years) Gopi Ram , Ex-President/NRPOA and Sh.Surjit Singh,Ex-Genl Secretary/NRPOA  being present together after a gap of several year.Sh.Raman Sharma stated that old former presidents and general secretaries of IRPOF and NRPOA.  Besides , others ex-President of NRPOA also  attended the open house. Though,this was farewell meeting for Sh.Jitendra Singh,yet there seems no much  speeches about the occasion. There was general feeling that there shall be changed scenario during Sh.Raman Sharma’s stewardship.I feel that all old stalwarts who made tremendous contribution should have been given a small memento as a token of respect. Yes, their role was acknowledged in the meeting. I hope that this tradition should continue. Lest we forget our great leaders, who have taken us to this point.

I also feel that IRPOF should also observe its FOUNDATION DAY and on that occasion , where we recall our saga  of struggle on one hand , we should honour our living legends on the other hand so that younger generations may inspire.It shall be great service to the fraternity and nation at large.