Railways to not conduct IRMS exam this year, officers to be recruited via UPSC CSE

While the ministry is tight-lipped over the reasons behind the decision, sources suggest that it was likely that it relented under pressure from officers belonging to non-engineering cadres.

By: PTI

New Delhi | February 2, 2023 07:00 PM IST

2 min read

The IRMS Examination was seen to benefit students with an engineering or commerce background (Express photo by Partha Paul/ Representative Image)

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The Ministry of Railways today announced that for this year, it has dropped the plan to recruit officers through IRMS exam, instead the officers for Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) will be selected through the Civil Services Examination. The Civil Services exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

This is in contradiction to an earlier order which stated that recruitment to the service would be done through a specially designed IRMS Examination, to be conducted by the UPSC from 2023.

“Ministry of Railways, in consultation with UPSC and DoPT, has decided that recruitment to Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) will be done through the Civil Services Examination to be conducted by the UPSC for the year 2023,” it said in a statement.

Also read | UPSC Civil Service 2023: Registration begins; check eligibility criteria and more

While the ministry is tight-lipped over the reasons behind the decision, sources suggest that it was likely that it relented under pressure from officers belonging to non-engineering cadres.

The IRMS Examination was seen to benefit students with an engineering or commerce background who planned to appear for the Civil Services Examination with an additional avenue open exclusively to them.

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