NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has nominated six Union ministers, an ‘alternate mechanism’, who will recommend the roadmap for merger of eight Group-A services in railways. The group to be headed by home minister Amit Shah will include highways minister Nitin Gadkari , finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, railway minister Piyush Goyal , housing and civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri and shipping minister Mansukh L Mandaviya.

To allay the fears of officers, who are against merger of services, the government had assured that the group of ministers, known as the alternate mechanism, will ensure that the promotion and seniority of all 8,400 officers are protected.

“The modalities and unification of the services will be worked out by the Ministry of Railways in consultation with DoPT with the approval of Alternate Mechanism to be appointed by Cabinet in order to ensure fairness and transparency. The process shall be completed within a year,” the government had said while announcing the Cabinet decision for merger of services.

