Jaya Verma Sinha became the first woman CEO and Chairperson of the railway board, the top decision-making body for the national transporter after she took charge of the office on Friday. Sinha's appointment holds significance as he became the first woman to hold this position in the 166-year history of Indian Railways, as well as the 166-year history of the Railway Board. According to officials, she succeeded Anil Kumar Lahoti in her new role and will be in office till August 31, 2024.
"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Jaya Verma Sinha, Indian Railway Management Services (IRMS), Member (Operations & Business Development), Railway Board to the post of Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Railway Board," an order said. Sinha is slated to retire on October 1, 2023, but will be re-employed the same day till her tenure gets over.
Who is Jaya Verma Sinha?
An Alumnus of Allahabad University, Sinha joined the Indian Railway Traffic Service in 1988 and worked in Northern Railway, South Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway. Prior to the current assignment, she was an Additional Member, of the Traffic Transportation, Railway Board.
In her career of over 35 years in Indian Railways, she has worked on diverse verticals spanning operations, commercial, IT and vigilance. Sinha has also been Principal Chief Commercial Manager of Northern Railway and Divisional Railway Manager of Sealdah Division. She also worked as a Railway Advisor at the High Commission of India, Dhaka, Bangladesh for four years. The Maitree Express from Kolkata to Dhaka was inaugurated during her tenure in Bangladesh. She also worked as the Divisional Railway Manager, Eastern Railway, Sealdah Division.
Sinha's remarkable contribution to Railways
With a distinguished career within the Indian Railways, Sinha has demonstrated exemplary leadership and expertise in the realm of Operations and Business Development. Her elevation to the coveted position of Chairman and CEO, of the Railway Board, underscores her remarkable contributions and dedication to the development of the railway sector.
It is worth mentioning here that Indian Railways has registered an all-time high growth of over 20 per cent in the freight segment and has broken the mark of 1.5 billion tonnes annually in freight in the last 2 years.
(With inputs from agencies)
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