Women In Leadership: How Indian Railway Department Leads By Example

The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has announced the appointment of more women officers than men in the operations of the next Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor from Ghaziabad's Duhai Depot to Meerut South. An unnamed source told the Press Trust of India, "NCRTC aims to involve more women employees in the operations of the next 25-km stretch of RRTS corridor... At the recently inaugurated 17-km primary section, the ratio of women staff involved in the operations is more than 50% and we aim to keep the same ratio hereafter." 

The railways department throughout India has recognised the need to create space for women's talent in the workforce. Recently, the Railway Board, responsible for key decisions in the Ministry, made headlines for appointing women officers to a majority of key positions. The railways, like most other ministries, were previously dominated by male officers until Jaya Verma Sinha took the seat of Chairperson and CEO in August last year.

Railway Board Dominated By Women

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) approved a new set of members for the Railway Board recently. The ACC has appointed Seema Kumar as a member (operations and business development), Aruna Nayar as the secretary, Naveen Gulati as Director General (human resources), and Satish Kumar as a member (traction and rolling stock). Satish Kumar has been identified as a strong contender for the next CEO after Jaya Verma Sinha's retirement. 

Roopa Srinivas, a railway accounts officer, continued as the interim member (finance) as the ACC did not name anyone for this post. A few days back Srinivasan, who was earlier the vice member, was given additional charge of member (finance) after Anjali Goyal retired on December 31, 2023.

However, Srinivasan was approved as the Director General of the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) at Vadodara. If the ACC approves Srinivas as a member, women will make up a majority of the policy-making Board. The decision is yet to be finalised by the Vice Chancellor.

Last November, the railways had named Shobhna Bandopadhyay as general manager (secretary level) West Central Railway, the first woman railway engineer to reach that level, officials told Times of India. In September, Jaya Verma Sinha became the first woman Chairperson and CEO of the Board in its 166-year history. Sinha was a member (Operations and Business Development), of the Board before her elevation as Chairperson.