Indian Railways' cadre restructuring exercise is said to have run into troubles because of its 'lop-sided' approach. Even as Group B officers feel the exercise may undermine their promotional avenues, the Promotee Officers Association (POA) is said to be on a warpath because of their apprehension that Group A is trying to abrogate Group B posts.

 

It is said under the current cadre restructuring exercise, additional posts in Group A level may be created to ensure faster promotion for officers selected through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

 

It is feared that this may ultimately jeopardize the chances of Group B officers. As per the plan, it is pointed out, the Board wants to cut back on Senior Scale posts, thereby surrendering 22 to 25 percent posts in that cadre. This may work to the disadvantage of Group B officers as the reduced number of posts may automatically create stagnation in their ranks.

 

Further, against the cutback of about 25% posts, Group A officers may increase their share at the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) and in the Principal Head of the Department (PHoDs) posts, even though they are already getting non-functional upgradation in a time-bound manner.

 

It is said that since the posts of Divisional Engineers and Divisional Personnel Officers at Sr. Scale may come down, it may have a cascading impact on the future prospects of not only Group B officers but also officers below that category like Junior Engineer and  Assistant Engineers.

 

It is pointed out that officers belonging to Group B and below are already suffering stagnation in their career because they are stuck at one post of 12-15 years. The Department Promotion Committee (DPC) often meet six to seven years late and this is one of the main reasons for stagnation in the ranks of middle and junior level officers. So we have officers stagnating at mid-level for 12 to 15 years in one post due to delay in clearance from DPC.