Government of India is the biggest welfare providing organization in this country and the govt. jobs still rules the roost, despite opening of private sector in a big way and GDP of the country set to achieve the target of 9%. A mammoth manpower of app. 50 lakhs in government  sector contributing to the growth of the country in various ways right from managing the economy to monitoring the progress of the projects of poverty alleviation , health and nutrition, education, transport, safety and security of the country and what not. While in the their daily grind of fulfilling the needs of the assigned duties towards nation and common man, one tends to forgets his owns woos, yet the quest for job satisfaction and pressure of the peers working in other govt.sectors with same duties and responsibilities forces them to look inwardly, though not with melancholy, but certainly with frustration, which somewhere and in some known unknown way affects the public service.

Pay parity and promotional avenues are two major irritants amongst all govt. servants in central government employments or states .The vested interests in and outside the government may be seen behind this chronic ailment. Indian Railways, a major civilian employer in the country with 1.36 million of work force classified in numerous categories right from creating and maintaining health of its physical assets to human assets, in running the lifeline of the nation presents plethora of problems in its cadre management, which the “Group- B” category, despite a namesake umbrella organization, suffers the most in the hands of policy makers and policy implementers. It will not be inappropriate to say that problem of Group B cadre never meet the justice like its two rails of its system. It is an irony that the trains keep on running and heart of Group B officers keep on burning; neither passenger knows it nor the driver behind the railway system.

In the modern times information is an important tools to manage the things in a better way. By gone are the days when people were forced to have information only form very few sources, but with the arrival of Internet   technology in the world and Right to Information Act in India in 2005, the privilege of few has become a right of millions. We have witnessed the welcome change in internet connectivity from ‘nice to have’ to ‘must have’ amongst the society. Providing Free and reliable information with no strings attached tantamount to big social service, which very few endeavor in this field. This website is certainly   a big leap in this direction, where we have come up with valuable information which have been obtained compiled and presented with rigour, not only for the benefit of the users, but also for the policy makers and implementers. This portal aims not only to provide such information, but a platform to readers to freely  interact, raise the grievances, suggest and share ones valuable thoughts, information and experiences  that may prove beneficial to all. We hope that everyone should and must reap the benefit of the technological outreach. Sustain and sincere efforts in this direction will certainly help in overcoming the obstacle in the way of career progression of officers of Indian railways.

I invite all of my friends and critics to join.

S.K.Bansal, IRSME (Retd.)

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.