NEW DELHI: The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a new policy to end discretion in senior appointments in Indian Railways There has been lot of tussle over filling vacancies of GM level positions lately and government is now expected to fill them up as per the new policy. A senior government official said the new policy would ensure that officers are posted as General Managers (GMs) – a much coveted position – “strictly in order of their seniority” vis-à-vis the date on which the vacancies arise. This will be a change from the present regime where the vacancies of GM are often bunched together at the time of filling them up and officers end up being posted in a discretionary manner. Similar principle has been brought at the important Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) level posts where a service-wise distribution of DRM posts has been fixed to do away with discretion and provide for posting as DRM based on service-wise seniority eliminating probability of pick and choose.Also, the new policy had mandated that at least one post of GM for each of the Railway services at any point of time – so far there were no stipulated minimum posts of GM prescribed for each service resulting in a situation where some services did not have a single officer as GM at any point of time. Also, the new policy specifies that carried forward vacancies would be treated as first vacancies for GM in subsequent panel year. Much jostling has been seen among empanelled officers for posting as GM (Open-Line) since working as same is a mandatory prerequisite for further career progression as member. The new policy says officers who have been empaneled for GM (OL) posts will also be eligible for promotion as members, irrespective of whether they worked as GM (OL).Also, suitability for GM (OL) posts would now be determined by Departmental Promotion Committee to do away with over-dependence on the certification regarding suitability as GM (OL) in an officer’s Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) and ensure than an officer is assessed fairly and impartially taking into account his entire service record. Previously, a single entry in APAR of an officer certifying his unsuitability for GM (OL) post could impact his career and instances were seen where an officer with outstanding grading was declared unsuitable for OL or where relevant columns were left blank amounting to denial of posting as GM (OL) and Member. The new policy has also created a post of Advisor (Resource Mobilisation and Development) to be filled on lateral entry of external talent as much needed impetus to the development and modernization initiatives.Further, the ACC has approved an encadred DG post in apex scale for three railway services – IRPS, IRSSE and IRSS, to fulfill a legitimate aspiration of these organized ‘Group A’ services. To reorganize the Railway Board on functional lines, the posts of the three Members have also been re-designated as Member Infrastructure, Member Rolling Stock and Member Traction.