Railway Organisation

RAILWAY ORGANIZATION

The Railways in India are Government concern as well as a Commercial concern. Since Indian Railway is a Government undertaking, its major decisions are subject to control of Parliament and it cannot spent any money without approval of the Parliament through Railway budget.

Indian Railway is a public sector organization engaged in providing transport services both passenger and goods to the country.

For the purpose of sale of transportation, the places which have been authorized for and behalf of Indian Railways are technically known as a Railway Station. In order to meet the requirements of transportation the Railway requires the means of the business i.e. rolling stock, Railway tracks, buildings, Goods sheds, workshops etc.

The objectives of Indian Railways :-

Every Organization has some financial objectives and whether these are being achieved or not is also monitored. The Objectives of Indian Railways are as under:-

1. Efficient management of a transportation of a passengers and goods.

2. To provide the transportation services at the minimum cost as far as possible.

3. To ensure the safety in transportation of all the railway users.

4. To create such feelings in the railway organization that it is basically meant for the welfare of the nation itself.

5. To have efficient management in the Railway activity as a whole training of a staff and the allied works etc.

Salient features of the Indian Railway Organization:

As a result of Nationalization and integration of various systems of Railways in India these have been divided into different Zones to ensure the efficient transportation and the working of the Railways. The following points were kept in view to ensure the above intentions.

1. As far as possible the services of one Zonal Railway may be made available for one state.

2. Each Zonal Railway will have a Head Quarter duly equipped with a Personnel, Technical, Statistical, Management services.

3. To ensure minimum dislocation in the services of the Railway keeping in view the above intentions, the Railways have been divided into various zones as under:

Sr.No.Name of the Zonal RailwayNo. of DivisionHQs.

1. Northern Railway (NR)7Delhi

2. Central Railway (CR)7Mumbai

3. Eastern Railway (ER)7Calcutta

4. North Eastern Railway (NER)5Gorakhpur

5. North East Frontier Railway (NEFR)

4Maligaon

6. Southern Railway (SR)7Chennai

7. South Central Railway (SCR)5Secunderabad

8. South Eastern Railway (SE)7Calcutta

9. Western Railway (WR)8Mumbai

Further, it is again recently divided into six more zones. They are as under

10. East coast RailwayBhubaneshwar

11. East Central RailwayHajipur

12. North Central RailwayAllahabad

13. North western RailwayJaipur

14. South Western RailwayBangalore

15. West Central RailwayJabalpur

For the purpose of monitoring on the working of zonal railways, there exists Railway Board / Ministry of Railways, the organization at the Boards level is as under:

Railway Minister

Minister of State for Railways (MOSR)

Dy. Minister in the Ministry of Railways

CRB

Member MemberMemberMember Member

FC

(Traffic)Staff

(Mech)(Engg.)(Elect.)

CRB The Chairman Railway Board is an Ex-officio Principal Secretary to the Govt. of India in the Ministry of Railway. He is responsible for giving the day to day information to the Railway Minister in connection with the policies of the Govt. of India in respect of technical and the non-technical matters pertaining to Railway. He also functions as one of the members of the Railway Board and the responsibility for internal co-ordination vests with him.

FC : The Financial Commissioner in the Boards Office represents the ministry of a finance and he is also an ex-officio secretary to the Govt. of India in respect of a financial matters. He has a direct contact with the finance Minister and the Railway Minister and he is responsible to appraise the financial activities in respect of railways to the ministers concerned.

Member: Each member is responsible to ensure that the matters relating to his department are dealt with as early as possible and they are responsible to chairman Railway Board in respect of their portfolios. They are also considered as ex-officio secretary to Govt. of India. To assist the members, some advisors are also provided.

The following directorates are also functioning in the Boards Office:

1. Accounts

2. Civil Engg.

3. Efficiency Bureau

4. Electrical Engg.

5. Establishment.

6. Finance

7. Health

8. Intelligence

9. Law

10. Mech. Engg.

11. Mech. Engg. (Workshop)

12. Metropolitan Transport Project

13. Official Language

14. Pay commission

15. Public Relations

16. Railway Act Revision

17. Railway Electrification

18. Rail Movement (Coal Planning)

19. Railway Planning

20. Stores

21. Safety and Coaching

22. Security

23. Signal and Telecommunication

24. Statistic and Economics

25. Traffic (commercial and General)

26. Traffic Transportation

27. Vigilance.

Advisors are assisted by Directors in SA Grade

Joint Director, Dy. Director & Astt. Directors who are directly in-charge of the various branches of the Railway Ministry and they are responsible for the disposal of all the day to day work of the Ministry. They also deal with the GMs of the various Zonal Railways, General public and various Ministries of the Govt. of the India.

The following Organizations are working directly under the Railway Board control which are also known as a production units.

1. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (Chittaranjan) CLW

2. Diesel Locomotive works (Varanasi) DLW

3. Integral Coach Factory (Perambur) Chennai (ICF)

4. Wheel and Axle plant (Bangalore)

5. Diesel components works (Patiala) DCW

6. Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala)

In addition to above, the following institutions are also controlled by the Boards Office:

1. Indian Railways Institute of Advances Track Technology Pune (IRIATT).

2. Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Engg. Jamalpur (IRMEE).

3. Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engg. & Tele communication Secunderabad (IRISET).

4. Railway Staff College (Vadodara)

5. Shri. Jagjiwanram RPF College. (Lucknow).

6. Central Organization for Modernization of Workshops Delhi (COF MOW)

7. Indian Railway Institute of Civil Engineering Pune(IRICEN)

For the purpose of fulfilling the Railways recruitment in respect of various categories the "Railway Recruitment Board" is functioning at the following places.

1. Ahmedabad

2. Ajmer

3. Allahabad

4. Bhopal

5. Bangalore

6. Bhubaneshwar

7. Mumbai

8. Calcutta

9. Chandigarh

10. Guwahati

11. Gorakhpur

12. Jammu Tawi (Shrinagar)

13. Chennai

14. Maldah

15. Muzaffarpur

16. Patna

17. Ranchi

18. Secunderabad

19. Trivandram

Organization of Zonal Railways

For the purpose of Administration and working of Zonal Railways there exists a General Manager at HQrs. of the Railway concerned. The GM is assisted by Addl. GMs , Head of the Departments at HQs. level who are further assisted by Divisional Railway Manager at various divisions and also the Division executive authorities in respect of daily working of Zonal Railways. G. M. is responsible for over all supervision of zonal Railway.

In the following lines the organization of Central Railway has been described showing the various department of the Central Railway. The names of the departments, Official designation of their HOD, as also the nature of duties entrusted with these departments is also explained in brief.

GM

Additional GM (Optg.)

Additional GM (Tfc.)

Sr.No.Name of the Dept.HODDuties

1. Genl. ManagementSDGM

CVOGeneral Admn., Law Affairs, Public Relations, efficiency, Works Study etc. To ensure that no malpractices are taking place in the organization.

2. Optg.COM

CFTM

CPTM

CSOMovement of freight, passenger & other traffic Ensuing proper indication of the Rly. Stock with safety.

3. CommercialCCM

CMM

CCOAcceptance & booking of various types of traffic offered to the Rly. & prompt disposal of claims against the Railways.

4. AccountsFA&CAOBringing into accounts all the receipts & expenditure of the Rly., compilation / maintenance submission of various accounts in a prescribed manner from time to time & tendering the financial advice as & when required desired by Exe. Department etc. are the main functions of account Dept.

5. Mechanical CME

CWE

CRSE

CMPERepairs & maintenance of a various types of rolling stock, the works in respect of the rolling stock are some of the important duties of this dept.

6. EngineeringCE(G)Repairs & maintenance of the permanent ways, bridges, Engg. structural works including office / stations / yards, workshop building, conducting of a surveys for new lines projects, execution of new construction works are some of the functions of this dept.

7. ElectricalCEEThis dept. is responsible for repairs and maintenance of electrical installation supply of energy for traction and general services of the Rlys. including R&M of Elect. Locos.

8. S&TCSTERepairs & maintenance of a various types of signalling arrangements, communication including public announcing system are main functions of this dept.

9. PersonnelCPORecruitment, Appointment, Training, Posting, Transfers, Promotions etc. in respect of the personnel are the main functions of this dept. as also looking after welfare of the Rly. employees.

10. StoresCOSprocurement, purchases, storing & supply of varieties of stores and material required by Rlys.

11. MedicalCMOThis Dept. is responsible for ensuring health & medical welfare of the Rly. employees, sanitation in the Rly. premises etc.

12. PlanningCPLOPreparation of various plannings for the Rly. Admn. and its implementation.

13. Public Relation CPRORelease of a press communication in respect of various Rlys. activities, public relations & the disposal of a suggestions / complaints received from the general public.

14. SecurityCSCSecurity of the Railway property & security of goods and passengers while in transit are the main functions of this dept.

At divisional level the DRM is the head of that particular division. The DRM is assisted by ADRM, Divisional officers, Sr. Officers, Jr. Officers & staff for efficient functioning of each dept. The five divisions of Central Railway are as follows: -

DivisionCodeHQ

MumbaiMBMumbai CST

BhusawalBSLBhusawal.

NagpurNGPNagpur

SolapurSURSolapur

Pune(under formation) PAPune

The organization at divisional level is as under:

DRM

ADRM (Optg.)

EA. to DRM

ADRM (G)

Sr.DOM/ Sr.DSO/ Sr. DCM/ Sr. DAO/ Sr. DPO/ Sr. DME/ Sr. DEE/ Sr.DEN/ Security Commandant/ DCOS/ Sr. DSTE

The divisional officers of various depts. are responsible to DRM, in respect of day to day functioning of their depts. However, the Accounts Officers, Stores Officers, Workshop Executives who are functioning at divisions are directly controlled by the respective HODs so far as profession control is concerned.

Functions of Accounts Dept.

Every organization has some objectives and whether these are achieved or not is also monitored. It is only possible when all the transactions are evaluated in terms of money and are recorded in a meaningful manner. The process of keeping these records is called "Accounting" and the department which does it is called "Accounts department".

The main task of Railway Accounts department is to advice management on financial matters and maintains account in the prescribed proforma. A necessary part of this function is to scrutinize all transactions and bring to record only those transactions which are legitimately chargeable to railway revenues. This function is known as "internal check". It is also the duty of the accounts department to settle all claims against the railways arising out of those transactions which is found to be legitimate and regular.

The cost accounting is done particularly in the workshops of Indian Railways where costs are collected separately for each item of work done. It is essential to control cost of each item of work and also to decide the rates at which the shop manufactured items, the expenses may be transferred to user department and credit taken into workshop manufacturing suspense.

Railway accounts department also renders management accounting service while furnishing various information to management and carrying out its function of tendering financial advice. All managerial decisions regarding new investments and other proposals for fresh expenditure are taken only in the light of the financial advice given by the accounts department.

The main functions of Accounts dept. are as under:

1. Internal check with reference to Extant Rules / Orders of all the transactions affecting the Railway receipts and expenditure.

2. Maintenance of account as per prescribed procedures.

3. Prompt disposal of all the claims against the Rlys.

4. Tendering of financial advice to the Rly. Administration as and when required.

5. To ensure that there are no financial irregularities in the Rly. Transactions.

6. To play role of management accountant

Scrutiny of Receipts:

In scrutinizing the receipts, it should be seen that

1. The amount due to railway for services rendered, supplies made or for any other reason are correctly and promptly assessed and recorded as soon as this become due.

2. All receipts are properly brought into accounts.

3. All receipts are correctly classified and if these pertain to more than one Railway, the same are correctly apportioned among the Railways concerned.

Scrutiny of Expenditure:

All the claims against the Railways should be scrutinized with a view to ensure:

1. The expenditure or remission of revenue has been sanctioned by the competent authority and that the expenditure is incurred by the Officer competent to incur the same.

2. All prescribed preliminaries to the expenditures have been observed such as framing proper estimate, approval by competent authority, provision of funds etc.

3. It is covered by the grant at the disposal of the Officer incurring the same.

4. The expenditure does not contravene (against) any rules or orders in force.

5. The expenditure does not involve any breach of canons of a financial propriety.

6. The expenditure for a limited period is not admitted beyond that period without further sanction.

7. The expenditure has been properly and fully supported by vouchers and the payment has been so recorded as to render a second claim on the same account impossible.

8. The charges are correctly classified and if the amount is debitable to the personal account of the contractor / employees / other individual are recoverable from him under any rule or order; it is so recorded in the prescribed form.

9. In case of recurring charges payable on fulfillment of certain conditions, a certificate is forthcoming from the drawing Officer to the effect that necessary conditions have been fulfilled.

10. Departmental receipts are not utilized to meet any expenditure except where it has been specially authorized by the Competent Authority.

One of the important functions of a Accounts Department is to see that the claims preferred against the railways are carefully checked and promptly settled. All the claims against the Railway for services rendered are submitted in the form of bills by the concerned parties or by the departmental officers and the payment thereof is arranged by the Accounts Officers by drawing requisite funds from the RBI / SBI.

In order to enable, the FA&CAO to carry out his functions successfully, he has a well organized office under his control divided into different branches consisting of a several district units / sections and each such unit / section is to look after some specific portion of the work relating to the Railway finance and accounting etc.

Functions of a various sections in the Accounts Office:

i) Administration Section: All the staff matters of Accounts Dept. such as appointment, posting, transfers, fixation of pay, preparation of seniority list and all other personal matters are dealt with in this section.

ii) Establishment Section: Establishment matters of all the staff at HQ, Cash and pay work in connection with proposals for GMs sanction, school subsidy, maintenance of suspense account, court attachments, passing of payment of pay / allowances in respect of gazetted / non-gazetted staff including advances and loans to the staff etc. are dealt with in this section.

iii) Finance Section ; Scrutiny of all the proposals affecting Rly finances and tendering financial advice to the executive concerned is one of the main functions of this section .Scrutiny of the proposals for creation of new posts, extension of the currency of temporary posts , up-gradation of certain posts , critical examination of the tender documents including contract agreements etc. are few examples of the work done in this section.

iv) Provident Fund Section : Maintenance of PF accounts in favour of all the employees under different earnings CSRPF, NCSRPF , VPF, etc. passing of various advances and withdrawals from PF , transfer of PF account, in case of transferred employees amalgamation of such accounts when received from other units , monthly and annual re-conciliation of individual PF balances with the general books of the Rlys , issue of PF slips to the employees concerned are some of the items dealt with in the PF section .

v) Pension and Settlement Section : This section deals with all the matters in connection with arranging the payments of final settlement dues ,DCRG. (Death cum retirement gratuity )pension , leave salary etc. in favour of the Rly employees who have retired from the Rly service or ceased to be a Rly employee due to various reasons.

vi) Booking section : Maintenance general books of the Rlys ie cash book , journal , ledger ,etc. preparation of monthly and annual account current in respect of capital and REVENUE transactions , consolidations and submission of monthly and annual account current in respect of capital and Revenue transaction consolidation and submission of monthly and annual returns to the Rly Board raising and accepting debits/ credits issued to any by various divisions / Rlys . other govt dept. etc. preparation of cheques and post audit of all the paid vouchers are dealt with in this section, unpaid wages payorders are passed by this section.

vii) Budget section : Compilation of the information received from various executives departments in respect of budget and timely submission of the same to the Boards office is the main function of this section . Compilation of Budgetory information on the scheduled dates/ occasionally keeping informed all the executives deparments as regards to there Budgetory provisions, compilation of appropriation accounts after the close of the financial year are also dealt with in this section.

viii) Expenditure Section : To book the expenditure on all the works and revenue, to prefer bills against the public and private bodies for services rendered and supplies made, to make prompt payment of all the bills preferred against the Rlys. including contractors bills for works done, check of estimates submitted by the executives, timely preparation of control over statements etc. are the items of work carried out in this section.

ix) Inspection Section: This section is responsible to examine the initial books/records maintained by various executive departments including Accounts Offices through the periodical inspection of these offices and ensure that no irregularities are committed by the Executive Officers in the initial records on the basis of which various statements/returns/bills etc. have been sent to the Accounts Office from time to time. Prompt disposal of all audit objections including Audit Inspection Reports/Draft para/Audit Notes is also to be done by this section.

x) Test Check Section: This section carries out the Test checks subject to prescribed percentages of the work done in various sections of the Accounts Office to see that proper procedures have been followed at all the stages and thereby increasing the efficiency of the Accounts Office.

xi)Receipt & Despatch / Record section: Receipt and despatch of all the communications in the Accounts Office, other departmental offices, sections in the offices, Govt. Dept. and proper distribution of the concerned communication to the section concerned are the main functions of R&D section. Similarly systamatic maintenance of various types of paid vouchers making available the same as and when required, storing of forms and stationery including various types of books and Registers and supply of the same to various section when demanded for, are the main duties of the Record section.Traffic Accounts Branch:

This branch is centralized in the HQrs. only. The sub-sections of this branch are as under:

Coaching section: This section deals with internal check of various coaching returns received from the stations in respect of various types of traffic passenger, classification, excess fare return, luggage return parcel traffic return, station B / S etc. are some of the important returns checked in this section. Similarly check of Ticket indents received from the station is also carried in the section. Results of internal check are intimated to the stations concerned generally through advice of internal check. Similarly any irregularities detected during the course of check are taken up with the staff concerned through respective executive officers. The work in connection with the computer print in respect of coaching returns is also done in this section.

Goods section: This section deals with the internal check of all the returns received from the stations in respect of Goods Traffic such as check of invoice, goods B/S, MPA, handling bills etc. The results of internal check are communicated to the stations concerned by issue of error sheets and irregularities if any are reported to the executive concerned for necessary action.

General Section: Maintenance of Traffic book, Compilation of T / ACs, efficiency of work of the various sub-sections in the T / ACs branch and disposal of all the personnel matters of the accounts staff working in the T.A/Cs. branch. Similarly provision of books, forms, stationary etc. and maintenance of T.A/Cs. record are dealt with by the section.

Traffic Inspection section: This section in entrusted with the job of inspecting through the agency of TIA, the initial books, records, vouchers etc. at the Railway stations where the traffic transactions are originally initiated and to ensure that the same are maintained correctly. Prompt disposal of the various communications including Inspection reports received from the inspectorial staff of the Accounts dept. is also done by this section.

Test Check Section : This section carries out test check subject to prescribed percentages of the work done in various sections of the account s office to see that proper procedures have been followed at all the stages and there by increasing the efficiency of the accounts office .

Receipt Despatch /Record section: Receipt and Dispatch of all the communications in the accounts office, other departmental offices, sections in the offices ,Govt Dept.and proper distributions of the concerned communication to the section concerned are the main functions of R&D section. similarly systematic maintenance of various types of paid vouchers making available the same as and when required, storing of forms and stationary including various types of books and Registers and supply of the same to various section when demanded for, are the main duties of the Record Section.

Cash & Pay Section: This section is responsible for the receipt of all the Dept.Cash receivable to the Rly Admn. on account of various services rendered by the Rlys, prompt deposit of the same in to RBI/SBI and disbursement of all the cash in respect of various types of bills passed for payment by the accounts officers from time to time.

Stores Accounts Branch : SAB is responsible for all the accounts work and the work in respect of the financial matters of the Stores Dept. It has to see that the check of initial documents of Receipts and issues of the stores is carried out . it has to compile and prepare periodical returns and also to verify effectively the stock/stores lying in the Stores depot, offices, on the line etc.

Work Shop Accounts Branch : This branch of accounts office mainly deals with the Costing & Accounting work of the work shop , rendering all the assistance and co-operation required by the Head of the Work shop in financial matters , maintenance of accounts of expenditure in the W/shop in connection with Labour & materials ,arranging payments of W/shop labours, maintenance of suspense registers ,payment of incentive bonus to the work shop staff etc.

Organization of Accounts Department

FA & CAOFA&CAOFA & CAOFA & CAO

(Principal)(F/B)

(C)

(S&C)

Dy CAO(G)Dy FA&CAODy FA&CAODy FA&CAO

(F/B)

(C)

(S&C)

SAO

SAO

SAO

SAO

AAO(Adm.)AAO

AAO

AAO

FA & CAO

(Traffic)

FA & CAO(S & W)

Dy FA & CAO

Dy FA & CAO

Dy FA & CAO

CC

(Workshop)

(Store)

(T)

SAO

SAO

SAO (T)

ACC

MB CST

AAO

AAO

AAO (T)

ACC (JHS)

Open Line

Constructions

WorkshopSr. DAO

SAO (C)

WAO

DAO

AAO (C)

WAAO

ADAO

AO(P)