The post of general managers of six Railway zones and two separate units have been lying vacant since April, affecting development works, including the Rs 37,000-crore ambitious project of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.

The posts of general manager (GM) of East Central Railway in Hajipur, North Central Railway in Allahabad, North Western Railway in Jaipur, South Central Railway in Secunderabad and two more zones are lying vacant. Besides, the post of GM Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi and Railway Staff College, Baroda has also been not filled since June.

The GM of East Central Railway, Girish Bhatnagar, had retired on July 3. Since then the zone is under the additional charge of Deepak Krishna, general manager of Eastern Railway, Kolkata.

The GM of South Central Railway, H K Padhee retired on May 31. The zone is now under the additional charge of Kuldeep Chaturvedi, GM of South Western Railway.

The GM of CORE (Central Organisation of Rail Electrification), G R Vij, holds the additional charge of GM, Diesel Locomotive Works. S M Bhardwaj, GM of Diesel Locomotive Works, had retired in June. Similarly, the GM of Western Railway holds the additional charge of GM North Western Railway — the post is lying vacant since August 31.

“Though the Ministry of Railways had initiated the process in time to fill up the posts, it got affected due to the Lok Sabha elections and the subsequent formation of the new government,” said Railway Board Spokesman Anil Saxena. He added the process is on and a decision will soon be taken in this regard.

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