The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
, responsible for the
country's rail transport. The ministry operates the
statutory body Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...
, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport and is headed by the
Chairman and CEO of Railway Board. The Ministry of Railways along with the Railway Board is housed inside
Rail Bhawan
Rail Bhawan is the headquarters of the Indian Railways. It is located at Raisina Road, New Delhi, near the Sansad Bhavan (Parliament House).
The office of Minister of Railways Sri, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw anMinister of State, Railways Shri Suresh ...
in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
.
Organisational structure
The ministry has a
Union Minister
The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...
and
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...
. A number of directorates report to the Railway Board. Most of the officers posted in Ministry of Railways are either from organised "Group A Railway services" or the
Railway Board Secretariat Service The Railway Board Secretariat Service (RBSS) (हिंदी : रेलवे बोर्ड सचिवालय सेवा) is a civil service with induction at Group 'B' stage in the Secretariat of the Ministry of Railways ( Railway Board) ...
.
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...
The
statutory body known as the
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...
, which reports to
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and is under the
ownership of ''Ministry of Railways'' of the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
. The
Indian Railway Board
The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the country's rail transport. The ministry operates the statutory body Indian Railways, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport and is h ...
comprises one
Chairman, seven "members of the Railway Board", and a Financial Commissioner (who is the representative of the Ministry of Finance in the Railway Board). It also includes a Director-General (Railway Health Services), Director-General (personnel) and a Director-General (
Railway Protection Force
Railway Protection Force is a security force under the ownership of Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957; enacted by the Indian Parliament for "the better protection ...
).
The name change of railway stations in India require approval by the Indian Railway Board.
Current members
Current
Minister of Railways
A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...
:
*
Ashwini Vaishnaw
Ashwini Vaishnaw (born 18 July 1970) is an Indian politician and former IAS officer currently serving as the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology in Government of India, since 8 July 2021. He is a membe ...
(2021-current)
Current
Minister of State, Railways:
*
Raosaheb Danve
Raosaheb Dadarao Danve (born 18 March 1955) is an Indian politician and current Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Coal and Ministry of Mines in Second Modi ministry. He is a member of Bharatiya Janata Party and got e ...
(2021-current)
*
Darshana Jardosh (2021-current)
Present Members of Railway Board:
*
Chairman and CEO of Railway Board :
Vinay Kumar Tripathi
Vinay Kumar Tripathi is an Indian officer and locomotive engineer who is serving as Chairperson of the Railway Board and served as General Manager of North Eastern Railway zone
The North Eastern Railway (abbreviated NER) is one of the 19 rail ...
,
IRSEE
Irsee is a village and municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany.
The centre of the village is dominated by a monastery (Klosterbau), dedicated to the Virgin Mary The monastery was founded in 1186 by Margrave Henry of Ron ...
* Member Infrastructure: Sanjeev Mittal
* Member (Traction and Rolling stock): Rahul Jain
* Member (Operation and Business development): Sanjay Kumar Mohanty
* Member (Finance: ): Mr. Naresh Salecha
* Finance Commissioner: Position abolished
Director General (RHS): Bishnu Prasad Nanda
* Director General (RPF): Arun Kumar, IPS
* Director General (HR) : Vacant
* Director General (Safety) : Rahul Jain (L/A)
* Secretary: Sushant Kumar Mishra
History
In 1901, on the recommendations of Sir Thomas Robertson Committee regarding the administration and working of the railways, an early version of the railway board was constituted. It initially had three members.
In 1905, its powers were formalised by
Lord Curzon
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...
's government. Its membership consisted of a Government Railway official, who was the chairman of the board, a railway manager from England and an agent of a Company Railway. The board was placed under the Department of Commerce and Industry of the Indian Government.
In 1921, a reorganisation of the Railway Board was carried out, and a Chief Commissioner of Railways was appointed, who was solely responsible to the Government for decisions on technical matters and for advising the Government on matters of policy. Pursuant to the
Acworth Committee's recommendations in 1921, the Railway Board was reconstituted with effect from 1 April 1924. The reconstituted board consisted of the Chief Commissioner, a Financial Commissioner and two members. One was responsible for ways and works, and projects and stores. The other was responsible for general administration, staff and traffic.
In 1929, an additional post at the member level was added to the board. It was given responsibility for staff, so that the member in charge of traffic could focus solely on transport and commercial matters. During this time,
Frank D'Souza
Frank D'Souza (born in Karachi, British India) was the first Indian to be appointed member of the Indian Railway Board and the man who set up the Pakistan Western Railway after Partition of India in 1947.
Early life
D'Souza was born in Karachi, ...
became the first Indian member of the board.
In April, 1951 the post of Chief Commissioner was abolished and the senior-most functional member was appointed the chairman of the board, resulting in a membership of four.
In October 1954, the chairman of the board was made responsible for decisions on technical and policy matters, with the status of a Principal Secretary to Government in the Ministry of Railways. One more Member was also added and the strength of the Board again became five.
In 1988, a new member with responsibility for signals, telecommunication and electrical matters was added to the board. On 16 April 2019 two more members, one with responsibility for signals and telecommunications, and another for material management, joined the board. At this point, the Railway Board had a strength of eight—a Chairman, and seven members. The Chairman is assisted by officers of
Railway Board Secretariat Service The Railway Board Secretariat Service (RBSS) (हिंदी : रेलवे बोर्ड सचिवालय सेवा) is a civil service with induction at Group 'B' stage in the Secretariat of the Ministry of Railways ( Railway Board) ...
.
On 24 December 2019, the Union Cabinet decided to reduce the size of the board from eight to five. It also decided to merge its different cadres into a single Railway Management Service. The newly constituted Board will have Members for "Operation, Business Development, Human Resources, Infrastructure and Finance".
Railway Budget
The East India Railway Committee, chaired by Sir
William Acworth reported that there was a need for unified management of the entire railway system. On the recommendations of this committee and ratification of a resolution to do so in 1921, the government took over the actual management of all the railways, and also separated the railway finances from the general governmental finances. It also began to present the Railway Budget separately from the
general budget of India
The Union Budget of India, also referred to as the ''Annual Financial Statement'' in Article 112 of the Constitution of India, is the annual budget of the Republic of India. The Government presents it on the first day of February so that it coul ...
every year. The Railway Board was expanded to have a Financial Commissioner, a member in charge of ways, works, stores and projects, and a member in charge of administration, staff, and traffic. Accordingly, from 1 April 1929, the responsibility for the compilation of accounts for the Railways was taken over by the Financial Commissioner, Railways from the Auditor General.
The last
Railway Budget
Railway budget of India was the Annual Financial Statement of the state-owned Indian Railways, which handles rail transport in India. It was presented every year by the Minister of Railways, representing the Ministry of Railways, in the Parliam ...
was presented on 25 February 2016 by Mr.
Suresh Prabhu
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (born 11 July 1953) is an Indian politician, India's Sherpa (emissary), Sherpa to the G7 anChancellor of Rishihood University who was the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India), Minister of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Rail ...
. The
Modi government
The premiership of Narendra Modi began on 26 May 2014 with his swearing-in as the prime minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He became the 14th Prime Minister of India, succeeding Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress. Modi' ...
on 21 September 2016 approved merger of the rail and
general budgets from 2017, ending a 92-year-old colonial era practice of a separate budget.
Controversies
On 14 February 2008,
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, listed on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
, admitted to violating
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) regulations by making improper payments from its subsidiary Pioneer Friction Limited, based in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
, to government officials of the
Indian railway board
The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the country's rail transport. The ministry operates the statutory body Indian Railways, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport and is h ...
. Payments were made in order to obtain and retain business with the Railway Board and curb taxes.
On 3 May 2013, the
CBI arrested then Minister of Railways
Pawan Kumar Bansal
Pawan Kumar Bansal (born 16 July 1948) is an Indian National Congress politician, appointed interim treasurer in November 2020 and a former minister in the Manmohan Singh government. He represented Chandigarh constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha ...
's nephew, Vijay Singla for accepting an alleged bribe of , which was part of a larger sum of Rs. 100 million (US$16.2 million) from a middleman on behalf of Mahesh Kumar, in return for his appointment as Member (Electrical) of the Railway Board. Mahesh Kumar was suspended, although the Railway Board clarified that no rules had been broken during the appointment of Mahesh Kumar.
References
External links
Official website of the Ministry of Railways
{{authority control
Railways
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
India, Railways
1853 establishments in India