No. AIRF/159 (925)
Dated: 02.11.2026
The Director General (HR),
Railway Board,
Rail Bhawan,
New Delhi
Sub: Grant of financial upgradation under the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS) to Station Masters who subsequently moved to the Accounts Department through a process of selection – Request for reconsideration and issuance of a favourable clarification.
Ref:–
- Railway Board’s letter No. PC-V/2018/MACP/ISM dated 24.11.2020 (RBE No. 99/2020).
- Railway Board’s letter No. PC-V/2018/MACP/ISM dated 03.12.2020 (RBE No. 105/2020).
- Pr. FA & CAO, South Central Railway’s letter No. A/ENG/MOS dated 11.11.2025.
Dear Sir,
The All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) would like to invite your kind attention to an important and long-pending issue concerning the grant of financial upgradation under the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS) to a small group of former Station Masters of South-Central Railway, who had subsequently moved to the Accounts Department through a process of selection. The matter requires sympathetic and judicious consideration in the light of the provisions of the relevant Railway Board’s instructions, as well as the subsequent clarification issued by the Personnel Department of South-Central Railway.
2. In this connection, it is pertinent to mention that Railway Board, vide its letter dated 24.11.2020 (RBE No. 99/2020), clarified that employees who had progressed to another cadre through lateral induction/selection or on account of medical de-categorisation would also be entitled to financial upgradation under MACPS by ignoring the promotion/financial upgradation from ASM in Grade Pay of Rs. 2,800/- to Station Master in Grade Pay of Rs. 4,200/-, irrespective of their subsequent progression in other cadres, in accordance with the policy laid down under RBE No. 26/2020. The underlying objective of these instructions was to ensure that the benefit of the said financial upgradation was not denied merely on account of the employees having subsequently moved to another cadre through the prescribed process.
3. The issue has arisen in South Central Railway in respect of certain Station Masters, initially borne in the scale of Rs. 1,400–2,300, who were subsequently selected and absorbed as Junior Accounts Assistants (JAAs) in the Accounts Department, in the scale of Rs. 1,200–2,040, pursuant to an administrative notification issued in 1995 inviting applications from staff working in various departments of the Railway. However, when these employees sought the benefit of financial upgradation in terms of RBE No. 99/2020, the Accounts Administration initially declined their requests on the ground that their movement to the Accounts Department did not constitute a selection within the meaning of the aforesaid instructions. This position compelled the affected employees to seek legal recourse for securing the benefit admissible to them under the relevant policy instructions.
4. Subsequently, when the matter was taken up by our affiliated Union, the South-Central Railway Mazdoor Union (SCRMU), the Personnel Branch of South Central Railway examined the issue and issued a clarification vide letter No. P(R)/535/XIII dated 10.07.2025, categorically holding that the employees concerned were eligible for the benefit of financial upgradation under RBE No. 99/2020. However, before extending the benefit, the Finance Department sought clarification from the Deputy Director/Pay Commission, Railway Board, vide its letter referred to at Sl. No. 3 above.
5. It is significant to bring to your kind notice that the Accounts Administration has since reconsidered its earlier position and acknowledged that the movement of the employees concerned to the Accounts Department was, in fact, through a duly conducted process of selection, comprising a written examination, assessment/selection and subsequent interview. Thus, the very factual premise on which the earlier denial of the benefit was based no longer survives. In view of this revised and categorical stand of the Accounts Administration, the South-Central Railway Administration is favourably inclined towards extending the benefit to the eligible employees. However, the matter continues to remain unresolved on account of the earlier clarification issued by Railway Board vide letter No. PC-V/2021/MACP/7/SCR(E) dated 28.08.2022.
6. In this regard, AIRF would like to submit that the clarification issued by Railway Board on 28.08.2022 appears to have been based on the factual position then reported by the Accounts Administration, namely, that the movement of the employees concerned to the Accounts Department was not through a process of selection. Since the Accounts Administration has now revised its earlier stand and expressly acknowledged that the absorption was preceded by a proper selection process involving examination and interview, the factual circumstances underlying the earlier clarification have materially changed. Consequently, the said clarification requires reconsideration in the light of the revised factual position and the subsequent clarification issued by the Personnel Branch of South Central Railway.
7. AIRF, therefore, feels that the present case deserves to be examined afresh, keeping in view the true nature of the selection process undertaken in 1995 and the specific provisions of RBE No. 99/2020. The mere fact that the employees concerned subsequently moved from the Station Master cadre to the Accounts Department should not, by itself, deprive them of the benefit envisaged under the MACPS instructions, particularly when their movement was through a process of selection and the competent Personnel Authority of the Railway has already held them eligible for the benefit. A harmonious interpretation of the relevant instructions, based on the actual facts of the case, would not only ensure consistency in their implementation but also prevent undue hardship to the employees concerned.
8. It is also worthwhile to point out that the number of employees affected by this issue is extremely small, being approximately 12 in all, and almost all of them have already retired from Railway service. Further, the financial benefit arising out of the proposed upgradation would be admissible to the concerned employees with reference to the date of upgradation of the ASM Grade Pay to Rs. 4,200/-, i.e., 16.02.2018, subject to the applicable rules and conditions. Consequently, the resultant financial implications for the Railway Administration would be limited, whereas the benefit would bring considerable relief to the affected employees, particularly in the matter of revision of their retirement and pensionary benefits.
9. In the circumstances explained above, AIRF earnestly requests the Railway Board to kindly take a fresh and sympathetic view of the matter, duly taking into account:
a. The provisions and intent of Railway Board’s instructions contained in RBE No. 99/2020 and RBE No. 105/2020;
b. The fact that the movement of the employees concerned to the Accounts Department was through a duly conducted selection process involving examination and interview;
c. The subsequent clarification issued by the Personnel Branch of South-Central Railway vide letter dated 10.07.2025, holding the employees eligible for the benefit;
d. The revised stand of the Accounts Administration, which has now acknowledged the existence of a proper selection process, thereby altering the factual basis of the earlier clarification dated 28.08.2022; and
e. The very small number of beneficiaries and the limited financial implications involved, particularly in view of the fact that almost all the affected employees have already retired.
In view of the foregoing, AIRF requests your good office to kindly reconsider the clarification issued vide letter dated 28.08.2022 in the light of the revised factual position and arrange to issue a suitable and favourable clarification to South Central Railway, enabling the Administration to extend the admissible benefit of financial upgradation under MACPS to all eligible employees concerned, without any further delay.
The matter has remained unresolved for a considerable period, causing avoidable hardship to the employees, most of whom have already retired after rendering their valuable services to the Railways. An early, positive and sympathetic intervention by the Railway Board would go a long way in ensuring justice to these employees and bringing this long-pending issue to its logical conclusion.
An early and favourable decision in the matter is earnestly solicited.
Yours sincerely,
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
General Secretary
Copy to: General Secretary, SCRMU, 7-C Railway Building, Secunderabad – For information.
