Young officers to head major railway stations

NEW DELHI: Eager to improve the railways' image, the state-run transport has decided to post young Group 'A' officers at bigger railway stations as 'station directors' to improve customer satisfaction and also enhance business activities. With the current railways dispensation aiming to develop stations as economic and business hubs, the idea is to place senior officials at the stations which have a direct public interface.
The move is aimed at strengthening the organisation at stations, as announced by railways minister Suresh Prabhu in the Union Budget, by making one senior official responsible for smooth functioning of the entire area with special focus on improving passenger experience and boosting commercial activity .
As of now, junior promotee officers are appointed as chief station managers, station masters and station superintendents who don't have control over a range of services provided at stations such as cleaning, ticketing, parcel and many more managed by different departments.
To begin with, senior officers will be posted at 12 `A' category stations such as Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur as station directors. Around 60 stations are placed in `A' category depending on traffic volu me and revenue generation.
The station directors, vested with more contractual and financial powers, will be supported by a cross-functional team of officials from different departments, such as traffic, mechanical, electrical and civil, to run stations as excellence centres.
“Appointment of station directors equipped with powers to give contracts and more financial powers will ensure single-point accountability,“ said a senior official.
He added, “This will ensure better passenger amenities, vigilant and sensitive customer service, responsive grievance redressal and superior commercial sense.“
Though the decision initi ally faced resistance from Group A officials who were reluctant to work as station heads, which is seen as a low profile job, the move got acceptance after the transporter enlarged the scope.“The station director will directly report to divisional railway managers (DRMs) or ADRMs while junior officials at the station will report to him.“