The Ministry of Railways has decided to depute Indian Railway Services (IRS) officers as station directors at 75 major stations across the country. The decision has been taken by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal with a view to bring about better professionalism in the organisation.
According to a senior railway official, these officials will be young officers from Group A. These IRS officers will be posted at these stations soon after completion of their training.
The deployment will be done in phases. To begin with, these directors have been posted at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Mumbai. Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Mumbai, Mumbai Central, Delhi, New Delhi, Secunderabad, Chennai Central, Bengaluru City, Howrah, Sealdah, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. The remaining 63 A I category stations will have these directors by end of this year.
The official said: “These station directors will ensure that the stations under their control function as excellence centres for the customers with the additional objective to ensure vigilant and sensitive customer service and also superior commercial sense.”
These officers will be supported by cross functional teams in suitable manner to undertake these functions effectively. Station directors will also be associated in the decision making process related to proposals and execution of traffic facility and passenger amenities works at that particular stations.
These directors will also monitor the safety and repair works on stations under their control and also the nearby blocks. All the staff at the railway station, including the station manager and superintendents, will report to the director.
According to the official, these directors will also be actively involved in the process of raising revenue from non-fare sources like commercial advertisements. They will be imparted special orientation training for the purpose.