Central government has decided to withdraw the railway recruitment through the Engineering Services Exam and Civil Services exam. The recruitment will now be through Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS). However, the exam for selection to Indian Railway Protection Force Service will continue as before. The information was shared by Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The Railway Minister in response to Kunwar Danish Ali’s question on whether the railways has cancelled the vacancies under ESE 2020 for which stage-I (Preliminary) examination was conducted on January 5, said that, it has been decided to withdraw indents for services covered under Engineering Services Examination 2020 and Civil Services Examination 2020 except that for Indian Railway Protection Force Service (IRPFS)

He said,  “In line with Government’s decision to introduce Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) from the next recruitment cycle, it has been decided to withdraw indents for services covered under Engineering Services Examination 2020 and Civil Services Examination 2020 except that for Indian Railway Protection Force Service (IRPFS).”

Union Public Service Commission (USPC), the central service recruiter will now conduct the recruitment exams directly for the IRMS. However, it is not clear when the first IRMS exam will be notified.

On December 24, the Union Cabinet had approved a major overhauling of the organizational structure of Indian Railways in which its eight services were merged into one — the Indian Railway Management Service.

It was then decided that UPSC would facilitate recruitment for the unified railway group ‘A’ service, Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS), from the next recruitment cycle which is 2020.

The Railways had written a letter to UPSC in January about the withdrawal of the posts.