Performance a must for top railways babus as govt starts zonal ratings

Eying to maintain quality and improvement in the Indian Railways, the ministry has come out with a novice initiative. The railway board has started rating its 16 zones.

The move is seen to make the zonal offices more productive and a healthy competition among them. It would also send a message to the zonal chiefs to take their work with all seriousness which would pave way for their promotion.

According to a report in Times of India, the latest rating done by the railway board between April and December 2016 revealed that South Eastern Railway headquartered in Kolkata topped the chart while North Eastern Railway headquartered in Gorakhpur did not perform well.

 The report stated that the Northern Railway, with its headquaters in Delhi, was third from last.

 Union Railway minister Suresh Prabhu shifted the paradigm in promotion and appraisal system. The zonal chiefs have to play an active role as they are supposed to chalk strategy helping the state-run to earn money and keep the trains on time.

 The report suggested that the ranking has been prepared on a set of 17 key performance indicators (KPIs) such as operational and financial performance. The top officers like general managers, divisional railway managers and departmental heads in zonal railways would get appraisal on the basis of KPIs.