Indian Railway Accounts Service

The Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS; Hindi: भारतीय रेल लेखा सेवा Bharatiya Rail Lekha Seva) is a Group A Central Service of the Government of India. The officers of this service are responsible for the Accounts and Finance Management of the Indian Railways. About 10–15 IRAS officers are recruited every year through Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission. At present, the IRAS cadre has a strength of about 650 officers.

In 1921, the Acworth Committee recommended, and ratified through the Resolution for separation in 1924, that the Indian Railway finances should be separated from the General Finances. This segregation of Railway Finances together with acceptance in principle at least of the responsibility for the direct operation of its Railways was a watershed moment in the history of Railway Account Service, as it was for the Railways as a whole.

The growth and genesis of the service can be traced to the Acworth Committee report and becomes evident from these significant recommendations which are quoted below:

"We recommend that the Finance Department should cease to control the internal finances of the Railways; that the Railways should have a separate Budget of their own, be responsible for earning and expending their own income and for providing such net revenues as is required to meet the interest on debt incurred on or to be incurred by the Government for Railways purposes; and that the Railways Budget should be presented to the Legislative Assembly not by the Finance minister of the council but by the member in charge of the Railways." (Paras 74, 76 and 127 of the Acworth Committee report)

"We recommend, that subject to independent audit by Government of India, the Railways Department should employ its own accounting staff and be responsible for its own accounts. We think that the present account and statistics should be thoroughly overhauled and remodeled with the assistance of experts familiar with recent practices in other countries." (Paras 129-134 of Acworth Committee Report)

"We recommend that greater facilities should be provided for training Indians for the superior posts in Railway service and that the process of their employment in such posts should be accelerated." (Paras 182-184 of Acworth Committee Report)

It further goes on to recommend that the "title of Railway Board be replaced by the title of Railway Commission and that under the member of Council for Communications there should be 4 commissioners and that out of the 4, one should be in charge of Finance and the organization ..."

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