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REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99
The Gazette of India
CG-DL-E-10112025-267512
EXTRAORDINARY
PART I-Section 1
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2025/KARTIKA 16, 1947
No. 329]
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(Railway Board)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 7th November, 2025.
`F. No. 2025/CRB&CEO-CC/04/11.—In exercise of the powers conferred by section 2A of the
Railways Act, 1989, as amended from time to time, and in supersession of Ministry of Railways
Resolutions dated 27.05.2022 and 10.12.2019, the Central Government here by makes the following rules,
namely :-
3. Short title, commencement and application – (1) These rules may be called the Indian Railway
(Selection to Senior Posts) Rules, 2025.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
(3) These rules shall apply to the posts of Chairman & CEO, Members, other Level-17 posts, ex-
cadre Level-16 posts and Service-specific Level-16 posts.
2. Definitions - In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-
a) "Act" means the Railways Act, 1989, as amended from time to time;
b) "Board" means the Railway Board constituted under corresponding provisions of the Railways
Act, 1989 as amended from time to time;
c) “Level 16" means the HAG+ Pay Level (L 16) as specified in the Pay Matrix under the Central
Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016 or any subsequent revision;
d) “Level 17” means the Apex Pay Level (L 17) as specified in the Pay Matrix under the Central Civil
Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2016 or any subsequent revision;
e) “Organized Group- A Service"means Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)/
IRMS(Accounts), Indian Railway Service of Engineers(IRSE)/IRMS(Engg), Indian Railway
Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE)/IRMS(S&T), Indian Railway Traffic Service
(IRTS)/IRMS(Traffic), Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers
(IRSME)/IRMS(Mechanical), Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers
(IRSEE)/IRMS(Electrical), Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS)/IRMS(Stores), Indian Railway
Personnel Service (IRPS)/IRMS(Personnel);
f) "Service Rules" means the rules applicable to the cadre or service to which an officer belongs,
including the Indian Railway Establishment Code, the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, and other
applicable Central Civil Services Rules;
3. Level-17 Posts in Railway Board:
| # | Post |
|---|-------------------------------------------|
| 1 | Chairman & CEO Railway Board |
| 2 | Member (Finance) |
| 3 | Member (Infrastructure) |
| 4 | Member (Operations & Business Development)|
| 5 | Member (Traction & Rolling Stock) |
| 6 | Director General (Human Resources) |
| 7 | Director General (Safety) |
4. CHAPTER 1 :Appointment of CRB &CEO
Appointment of CRB & CEO
All officers working in L-17 shall be eligible for appointment to the post of Chairman & CEO,
Railway Board. Based on experience profile, competence, general reputation, integrity as well as
leadership qualities and suitability for the post, one of the officers shall be recommended by the
Ministry of Railways for appointment as CRB & CEO for approval of Appointments Committee of
the Cabinet (ACC).
5. CHAPTER 2: Selection for other Level 17 Posts
Eligibility for selection
(a) Details of services eligible for 06 posts of L-17
| # | Post | Services from which officers shall be eligible |
|---|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1 | Member (Finance) | Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)/IRMS(Accounts) |
| 2 | Member (Infrastructure) | Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE)/IRMS(Engg) Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE)/IRMS(S&T) |
| 3 | Member (Operations & Business Development) | Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)/ IRMS(Traffic) |
| 4 | Member (Traction & Rolling Stock) | Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME)/IRMS(Mechanical) Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE)/IRMS(Electrical) Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS)/IRMS(Stores) |
| 5 | Director General (Human Resources) | Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)/IRMS(Personnel) |
| 6 | Director General (Safety) | IRSE, IRTS, IRSME, IRSEE and IRSSE/ IRMS(Engg),IRMS(Traffic),IRMS(Mechanical),IRMS(Electrical),IRMS(S&T) |
(b) For the posts at sub- section (a) above, officers from the services mentioned against each post, and
working in ex-cadreLevel-16 postsor in service specific Level 16 posts, on regular basis, shall be
considered. The Service of officers working in ex-cadre Level 16 posts shall be the railway service
prior to their appointment in IRMS/ex-cadre.
(c) Only such of the officers who would be having at least one year residual service on the date of
occurrence of vacancy shall be eligible.
6. Method
(a) Vacancies for the posts falling vacant from January to March of the panel year shall be advertised
on 1st of June of the preceding year, while those falling vacant from April to December of the
panel year shall be advertised on 1st January of the panel year.
(b) The cutoff date for determining the eligibility shall be the date of vacancy.
(c) A Selection Committee shall be constituted under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary with
Secretary, DoPT and CRB as Members.
(d) The Selection Committee shall scrutinize the applications and give its recommendation post wise
for consideration of ACC, for appointment to the L-17 posts. The Selection Committee shall
devise its own procedure to assess the suitability of the candidates.
(e) The Selection Committee shall recommend for each post, a panel of two names, one of which will
be a 'Reserved name' and kept in sealed cover, to be operated in case the recommended candidate
is unable to join due to any reason.
The Reserve names shall be in operation till the selected candidate joins the post or till six months
from the date of recommendation by Selection Committee, whichever is earlier.
Any unanticipated vacancies on the posts, arising during the year can be filled from the reserved
name for the post, provided that the candidate is otherwise found eligible.
CHAPTER 3:Appointment to ex-cadre Level 16 posts
7. List of ex-cadreL-16 posts
| # | Post | Numbers |
|----|--------------------------------------------------------------|---------|
| 1 | General Managers (Zonal Railways) including Metro Railway | 18 |
| 2 | General Manager, Integral Coach Factory, Chennai | 1 |
| 3 | General Manager, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Chittaranjan | 1 |
| 4 | General Manager, Banaras Locomotive Works, Varanasi | 1 |
| 5 | General Manager, Rail Wheel Factory, Bengaluru | 1 |
| 6 | General Manager (Construction),Northeast Frontier Railway, Guwahati | 1 |
| 7 | General Manager, Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareli | 1 |
| 8 | General Manager, Central Organization for Railway Electrification, Prayagraj | 1 |
| 9 | General Manager, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala | 1 |
| 10 | Director General, Research, Designs and Standards Organization, Lucknow | 1 |
| 11 | Additional Member,Planning,Railway Board | 1 |
| 12 | Secretary,Railway Board | 1 |
| | Total | 29 |
8. Principlesfor preparation of panel for appointment to ex-cadre Level-16 posts
a) A panel shall bepreparedfor vacancies arising in a calendar year.
b) Officers having at least 2(two) years residual service, as on 1st January of the panel year, shall be
eligible for consideration.
c) Applications shall be invited batch-wise. However, the officers from all senior batches may also
apply; subject to the condition that they fulfill all the prescribed eligibility criteria.
d) Panel for these ex-cadre L 16 posts shall be prepared from the eligible candidates, selecting the best
suitable officers through a comprehensive assessment by Ministry of Railways and approved by
ACC.
e) Posting shall be done with approval of ACC based on vacancies and suitability of empaneled
officers. Empaneled officers will be posted as and when vacancies arise.
f) There shall be no departmental quota. Also, there shall be no open-line versus non-open-line
distinction for posting as General Manager.
9. Process for preparation of panel for appointment to ex-cadre Level-16 posts
Eligibility
For being considered eligible for appointment to ex-cadre L 16 posts, the officer should belong to
one of the eight Organized Group 'A' Services and should be working in Level 15 [Higher
Administrative Grade (HAG)] or above on regular basis.
9.2 Eligible officers of the batches to be considered for appointment to ex-cadre L 16 will be asked to
apply. Application shall consist of the following:
i) Top five challenging situations faced by the officer
ii) Description of top five contributions to the organization in lifetime
iii) Top five situations of effectively contributing as a team member
iv) Top three situations of effectively leading teams
v) Top three system changes done by the officer in entire career
9.3 A Selection Committee comprising Chairman & CEO Railway Board, Secretary, DOP&T and one
non-railway officer (like Secretary DPIIT, or Secretary MORTH, or CEO NITI Aayog, etc.) to be
nominated by Minister of Railways will make an overall assessment of the officer based on
following inputs: i) Expert Panel (EP) assessment of ACR/APARs; ii) EP Multi-Source Feedback;
and iii) Application.
Internal Guidelines for the assessment process to aid the selection committee in decision making
for the empanelment are enclosed as Schedule-I.
Based on this overall assessment, the selection committee will recommend the panel, comprising
1.25 times of the vacancies arising during the calendar year for ex-cadre L-16 for approval of the
ACC. The enhanced 25% of empaneled officers shall be maintained as an extended panel, to be
drawn upon in the event of any likely vacancy arising from sudden or unforeseen circumstances
during the validity of the panel.
9.4. Periodicity of meeting of Selection Committee and currency of panels
The selection committee shall meet sufficiently in advance before occurrence of vacancies during the
next calendar year. Panel shall be valid till 31st December of the panel year.
9.6 Sudden or unforeseen vacancy in ex-cadre Level-16, arising during the year shall also be filled
from the panel recommended by the Committee.
10. Appointment of officers on the panel to ex-cadre L 16 posts
a) Inclusion in the panel does not entitle appointment to a particular post.
b) All officers empaneled for ex-cadre L 16 shall be eligible for appointment to all ex-cadre L-16
posts. Keeping in view the specific requirements of the post and suitability of the empaneled
officers for the posts to be filled up, officers based on comprehensive assessment will be
recommended for appointment as ex-cadre L 16 and equivalent to the Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet.
c) The Ministry of Railways may transfer these officers if it considers expedient to do so in the
interest of effective functioning of the railways.
CHAPTER 4:Appointment to service specific Level-16 posts
11.1 List of service-specific Level-16 posts
(List of posts as existing and the description and work are subject to change from time to time to
suit the requirements of Railways)
| S.No. | Service | Designation |
|-------|----------|---------------------------------------------|
| 1. | IRAS | AM (Finance) |
| 2. | | AM (Budget) |
| 3. | | DG(IRIFM), Secunderabad |
| 4. | | AM (Revenue) |
| 5. | IRPS | AM (Staff) |
| 6. | | AM (Human Resources) |
| 7. | IRSE | AM (Civil Engineering) |
| 8. | | AM (Works) |
| 9. | | Special DG(Engg) ./RDSO/Lucknow |
| 10. | | AM (Land & Amenities) |
| 11. | | DG(IRICEN), Pune |
| 12. | IRSEE | AM (Railway Electrification) |
| 13. | | AM (Traction) |
| 14. | | DG(IRIEEN), Nasik |
| 15. | | Pr. CAO(PLW), Patiala |
| 16. | IRSME | AM (Mechanical) |
| 17. | | AM (Production Units) |
| 18. | | AM (Environment and Housekeeping Management)|
| 19. | | DG(IRIMEE), Jamalpur |
| 20. | | Pr. CAO (RWP), Bela |
| 21. | IRSS | AM (Railway Stores) |
| 22. | | Special DG(Vendor Development)/RDSO/Lucknow |
| 23. | IRSSE | AM (Signal) |
| 24. | | AM (Telecom) |
| 25. | | DG(IRISET), Secunderabad |
| 26. | IRTS | AM (Traffic) |
| 27. | | AM (Commercial) |
| 28. | | AM (Tourism & Catering) |
| 29. | | AM (Marketing & Business Development) |
| 30. | | DG(IRITM), Lucknow |
11.2 Eligibility
a) For service specific posts, officers of the relevant service working in Pay Level 15 on regular basis
shall be considered in the order of their seniority.
b) Only such of the officers who would be having at least one year residual service before
superannuation on the date of occurrence of vacancy falling in their turn would be eligible for
consideration for these posts.
c) For appointment to the posts of Additional Member (Traffic), Additional Member (Mechanical
Engineering), Additional Member (Civil Engineering), Additional Member (Traction), and
Additional Member (Signal), in addition to the above requirements, the officer concerned to be
considered suitable for these posts should have worked as Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) for a
minimum tenure of 15 months, as the incumbents of these posts are directly involved in Railway
operations.
d) Incumbents for the posts of Additional Member shall be recommended by a Selection Committee
comprising of Chairman, Railway Board as Chairman, Secretary/DoP&T and the concerned Member
of Railway Board, as Members.
e) Overall performance record of the officer should be 'Very Good (+)' in his/her APARs of the last 10
years. The Selection Committee shall make assessment of officers in the zone of consideration based
on APARs (10 years), relevant experience gained by an officer in different assignments, particularly
in challenging positions, his/her technical and professional exposure and his/her potential for
shouldering higher challenging responsibilities. Also, officers of proven integrity with clean record
should only be recommended by the Selection Committee if otherwise suitable for appointment
against the posts mentioned at 11.1 above, for approval of the Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet.
12. General
12.1 Date of effect
(i) Any proposal for empanelment or appointment under processin terms ofthe resolution
dated May 27, 2022shall standterminated with effect from the date of notification of these Rules.
(ii) All existing and future vacancies shall be filled up as per the Indian Railway (Selection to
Senior posts) Rules, 2025.
13. Relaxation
Any of the above-mentioned provision of the rules, if otherwise considered expedient in the public
interest may be relaxed to the extent necessary, with the prior approval of Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet.
14. Interpretation
All questions of doubt regarding the interpretation of the rules shall be decided by the Ministry of
Railways in consultation with the Department of Personnel &Training and with the approval of the
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
15. The documents relating to the overall assessment shall be treated as strictly confidential to ensure
the fairness and accuracy of the comprehensive assessment process.
ORDER
Ordered that a copy of the Notification be circulated among the members of various Group 'A' Railway
Services.
Ordered also that the Notification be published in the Gazette of India for general information.
ANAND KUMAR, Establishment Officer
Schedule-I
Internal Guidelines for comprehensive assessment process for selection of officers into
ex-cadre posts of Level-16 (HAG+) in Railways
1. Batch wise empanelment
Panel will be created batch wise. There shall be no departmental quotas. Empaneled officers will be
posted as and when vacancies arise. Panel for next batch will be prepared well in advance so that
the new panel can be considered for filling vacancies arising during the next panel year.
2. Constitution of Experts Panel (EP)
a) A panel of experts (EP) would be created from amongst a set of retired officers. Panel selection
would be done with utmost care.
b) Retired officers of following ranks would be considered for creating panel.
• Chairmen and Members of Board
• Secretaries, Government of India
• General Managers (GM)
• Additional Members (AM)
• Principal Heads of Departments (PHODs)
d) The Experts Panel will assist on assessing the ACRs/APARs, getting multi-source feedback,
and evaluating the applications.
3. Assessment of ACRs/APARs
a) ACRs/APARs of entire career will be considered for evaluation purpose.
b) EP shall evaluate the ACR/APAR on following grounds:
• Whether the gradings match the performance and achievements of the officer and in the
light of the officer's self-assessment and the remarks of the reporting, reviewing and
accepting authority.
• Whether the assessment shows a consistent trend.
• Reasons for inconsistencies.
• Normalization for cases where a reporting, reviewing, or accepting authority is known to
be liberal or conservative.
• Consistency between assessments by different officers in case an officer holds multiple
charges.
• Assessment in case of gaps - whether such gaps have been created due to lack of self-
assessment, or due to lack of review process, or due to lack of acceptance process.
• Normalization over different zonal railways or production units or other entities of railways
wherever a particular administrative unit is known to be liberal or conservative.
• Consider representation of officers in case any representation is received.
4. Multi-Source Feedback
a) EP will interact telephonically with a range of connected stakeholders including peers, seniors,
serving Members, serving GMs and external stake holders.
b) The range should be as diverse as possible.
c) MSF should be collected from a minimum of seven (7) persons.
d) EP will capture each stakeholder's opinion of the officer in an MSF format having 7 simple
questions (about decision making, taking ownership, being proactive, has track record of
delivery, being team player and team leader, reputation of being honest, and suitability for
senior level) to be scored on a scale of 1 to 5.
e) EP will ensure anonymity and confidentiality of stakeholders to elicit honest and accurate
feedback.
5. The documents relating to the overall assessment shall be confidential.
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054. GORAKHA NATH Digitally signed by GORAKHA
YADAVA
NATH YADAVA
Date: 2025.11.10 13:54:56+05'30'