NEW DELHI: Breaking the
glass ceiling
, women are now in the driver's seat in
Railway Board
, the
top decision-making body
of the railway ministry. After the latest appointments approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, the Board headed by a woman now has a woman member in-charge of
operations and business development
, and another in the same rank, dealing with finance.
All these years, the Board has been dominated by male officers. Last year, the current Railway Board chairman and CEO Jaya Verma Sinha became the first woman to reach the top post. The Appointments Committee of Committee (ACC) on Friday approved appointment of Seema Kumar as member (operations and business development) and Naveen Kumar as director general (HR), and Satish Kumar as member (traction and rolling stock).
Roopa Srinivas, a railway accounts officer, continues to look after the task of member (finance) as the ACC did not name anyone for this post, though it approved her appointment as the director general of National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) at Vadodara.
"Today the Board comprising of the CEO and four members has three women. This is for the first time when there is so much representation of women in the Board," said a railway official.
If the ACC puts its stamp on Srinivas as a member in the Board, women will for the first time have majority in the apex policy making body of the national transporter. They said chances are high, considering that the post of DG of railway academy is now a ceremonial post as the recent appointment of vice chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalay has practically put NAIR under the VC's watch. The ACC has approved the name of another woman railway officer, Aruna Nayar as the secretary of Railway Board.
Last November, railways had empaneled Shobhna Bandopadhyay as general manager (secretary level), the first woman railway engineer to reach that level, officials said. She was appointed as the general manager of West Central Railway.
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