Appointments to Group ‘A’ on Indian Railways 8 organized Group ‘A’ services IRSE, IRSEE, IRSME, IRSSE, IRSS IRTS, IRAS and IRPS Appointment through direct recruitment and promotion appointment to the lowest rung of the cadre, viz Junior Scale (Rs 8000 - 13500).

Appointments to Group ‘A’ on Indian Railways Miscellaneous Group ‘A’ cadres Law, Hindi, Public Relations, Prtg & Stnry, CMT, Cash & Pay, EDP etc. Appointment made through DR/promotion /deputation as per percentages specified in RRs Appointment made directly to Senior Scale (Rs 10000 - 15200).

Cadre strength of Junior Scale of Organized Services The strength Junior Scale cadre of all 8 services put together : 1647 posts. Previous Rectt Rules ---- 50% vacancies through DR and 50% vacancies through promotion Revised Rectt Rules --- percentage of posts for the two modes

Cadre strength of Junior Scale of Organized Services DR quota : promotion quota -- ratio of 3:1 ( WHY ? ) Promotees get 5 years weightage in seniority in Group ‘A’ Service reqd for promotion from Jr scale to Sr scale 4 years

Cadre strength of Junior Scale of Organized Services DRs work for 2 ½ years in Jr scale working posts whereas promotees vacate Jr scale posts immediately Posts occupied by 3 batches of DRs and 1 batch of promotees due to immediate vacation of posts by promotees Promotion quota consists of 411 posts DR quota consists of 1236 posts

Cadre strength of Junior Scale of Organized Services Promotion to Group ‘A’ is made every year to the full extent of 411 posts due to full vacation of the promotion quota junior scale posts Direct recruitment is also to be made every year roughly to the same extent viz 411 posts Ratio of intake to Group “A” by the 2 modes remains same

Service wise Distribution of Promotion Quota posts Year 2002-2003 to 2004-2005 2005-2006 & 2006-2007 Year 2007-2008 onwards No. of Post 180 318 411 IRAS 16 28 29 IRSE 43 76 74 IRSEE 25 44 55 IRSME 27 48 84 IRPS 11 20 IRSS 13 23 IRSSE 35 IRTS 66

Promotion to Group ‘A’ / Junior Scale of Organized Services Recruitment Rules notified for each of the organized services containing provisions on eligibility conditions etc promotion to Group 'A‘ / Jr. Scale through selection by a DPC (Departmental Promotion Committee) DPC held by UPSC

Promotion to Group ‘A’ / Junior Scale of Organized Services Group 'B' officers of the respective departments with 3 years regular service in the grade as on 1st January of the year are eligible Group ‘B’ seniority is maintained Railway-wise seniority list of Group 'B' officers as on 1st January of every year is obtained from each Zonal Railway / PU for each department

Distribution of vacancies among zonal Railways Group ‘A’ panels are also made railway-wise The promotion quota vacancies in Jr. Scale of each service are distributed among the different Railways / PUs Till the year 2004-05, vacancies were distributed only among the 9 parent railway and officers absorbed in new zones were also considered in their respective parent zones. From the year 2005-06 onwards vacancies are distributed among 16 zones

Distribution of vacancies among zonal Railways Seniority of Group ‘B’ officers of Prod. Units integrated with adjacent Rly e.g DLW with NE Rly. But for IRSME and IRSEE, Prod units are treated as independent units and vacancies allotted to the PUs separately.

Distribution of vacancies among zonal Railways Till the year 2004-05 the norms adopted for distribution of vacancies was as follows. 50% of the vacancies --- on the basis of Group 'A' cadre strength of the service on each railway. 50% of the vacancies --- on the basis of length of service of the officers in Group ‘B’.

Distribution of vacancies among zonal Railways From the year 2005-06 onwards, all the vacancies are allotted only with reference to length of service in group ‘B’, in order to reduce levels of stagnation in Group ‘B’ uniformly on all Railways Reservation of vacancies for SC and ST is made in accordance with post based roster prescribed by DOP&T under their O.M. dated 2.7.1997. SC/ST vacancies are allotted to Railways with reference to the length of service in Group ‘B’ of SC/ST Officers.

Departmental Promotion Committee(DPC) Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) for this purpose are convened by UPSC. Chairman or a Member of UPSC presides over the DPC meeting and 3 other departmental members from Railway Board (including an SC / ST officer) are nominated from the Ministry of Railways as members of the DPC

DPC proposal to UPSC (zone of consideration) Formation of zone of consideration for each railway w.r.t vacancies No. of vacancies No. of officers to be considered 1 5 2 8 3 to 10 2x + 4 10 & above 1.5 times rounded off to next higher integer+ 3 (subject to minimum 24) For SC/ST officers, the zone can extend up to 5 times the number of vacancies if adequate candidates are not available

DPC proposal to UPSC( ACRs) ACRs of all officers in the Zone and the DAR /Vigilance position in respect of these officers are collected from the Zonal Railways. ACRs for 5 preceding years considered. To illustrate, for vacancy year 2008-09, for which the cut-off-date for eligibility is 1.1.2008, the relevant ACRs are for the years 2002-03, 03-04, 04-05, 05-06 & 06-07. If one or more ACRs are not available, the DPC considers the ACRs of the preceding years.

DPC proposal to UPSC A detailed DPC proposal is thereafter sent to the UPSC in the prescribed format along with all necessary documents: Self contained note with vacancy position, seniority lists, variations from previous list, zones of consideration for each rly, integrity certificates and list of penalties for each officer, ACRs of all officers etc

Selection procedure The DPC makes an independent assessment on the basis of entries in CR and is not guided merely by the final grading recorded therein. Penalties during the assessed years are taken into consideration by DPC while giving grades For promotion to Group 'A' posts from lower grades, the bench-mark is 'Good'. At least 4 grades of “good” are required for being assessed as FIT. Officers are graded by the DPC as 'FIT' or 'UNFIT‘.

Selection procedure Officers who are graded as 'FIT', to the extent of number of vacancies are included in the Railway-wise panel in the order of their seniority. Assessment is not made in respect of the remaining officers. An extended panel is also given by the DPC in lieu of empanelled officers who retire during the vacancy year. No extended panel is given if the date of retirement of the empanelled officer falls outside the vacancy year.

Selection procedure (sealed cover) For officers against whom Disciplinary / Criminal proceedings are pending or those who are under suspension, the recommendations of the DPC are kept in a Sealed Cover. action on sealed cover as per Board‘s letter No. E(D&A) 93/RG6/149 (A) dated 21.1.1993, after finalization of the proceedings. The sealed cover is opened and acted upon only in cases of exoneration. If any penalty is imposed (even censure), the findings in the sealed cover become infructuous and the officer is considered for the next year in the normal course.

Action on DPC recommendations The recommendations of the DPC, with railway-wise panels, duly approved by Chairman/UPSC, are sent to Ministry of Railways. Minutes submitted for approval of the President (Minister for Railways) DAR/Vigilance clearance is again taken from Board Vigilance and Zonal Railways

Action on DPC recommendations Notifications (promotion orders) are issued by the Ministry of Railways. Date of effect of promotion is the date of UPSC's letter communicating the approval of the Commission to the recommendations of the DPC. No promotion orders are issued in respect of officers who cease to be in service before the date of effect of promotion.

Action on DPC recommendations If the recommended officer is undergoing a penalty of withholding of increment or reduction of pay, promotion orders are issued only after the expiry of the penalty. While pro-forma promotion is given in such cases from the date of effect of the panel, monetary benefits accrue only from the date of actual promotion.

Promotion to Group ‘A’ / Senior Scale in Misc. Cadres Promotion to Senior scale of Group ‘A’ The number of posts in the promotion quota for each cadre is determined with reference to the total number of posts in Senior Scale in the cadre and the provisions in the Recruitment Rules regarding percentage of posts to be filled through promotion. Promotion is made through selection from amongst Group 'B' officers of the respective departments with 8 years regular service in the grade.

Promotion to Group ‘A’ / Senior Scale in Misc. Cadres DPCs are held for vacancies that physically arise in the promotion quota posts. A single panel is formed for all Railways / PUs put together on the basis of integrated seniority of eligible Group 'B' officers. The DPC procedure and action on recommendations of DPC is the same as for Organized services. Only 5 ACRs are assessed even though eligibility is 8 years