Centre Appoints Jaya Verma As CEO And Chairperson Of Railway Board

Ms. Sinha served as the public face of the railways in Balasore train tragedy and spoke to the media to explain the failure of signalling system.

Written by Shivanshi Srivastava August 31, 2023

In history of Ministry of Railways, the Centre today named Jaya Verma Sinha as CEO and Chairperson of the Railway Board, making her the first woman to ever hold the position.

She joined the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) in 1988 and worked in the Northern Railway, South Eastern Railway, and Eastern Railway railway zones. Ms. Sinha is an alumna of Allahabad University.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has 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,” a government statement read.

Starting on September 1 at the earliest, Ms. Sinha will take over as Anil Kumar Lahoti’s replacement. The last day of her term is August 31, 2024. Despite having a retirement date of October 1 set, Ms. Sinha will start working again on that day to complete the remaining tenure.

Following the horrific Balasore tragedy, which left nearly 300 people dead in Odisha, Ms. Sinha served as the public face of the railways and spoke to the media to explain the failure of signalling system.

She was instrumental in the launch of the Maitree Express, a train service that runs between Kolkata and Dhaka, during her four years as the Railway Advisor in the High Commission of India in Dhaka in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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