INDIAN RAILWAY ACCOUNTS SERVICE IRAS)
The Indian Railway Accounts Service was formed during the year ……………….. with the cadre controlling authority of Executive director and a cadre size of 550 posts. The source of recruitment (in percentage) was by direct recruitment, 50% and by promotion 50% with no lateral entries.

Service hierarchy:

Grade	Pay scales	Designation in field	Designation in headquarters	Any other designation
Junior time scale	8000-13500	Assistant divisional accounts officer	Junior accounts officer	Workshop Accounts officer
Selection time scale sr. scale	10000-15200	Divisional accounts officer	Deputy director
Junior administrative grade	12000-16500	Sr. divisional accounts officer / Dy. Financial advisor & CAO	Jt. Director
Selection grade	14300-18300	Sr. divisional accounts officer / Dy. Financial advisor & CAO	Director
Senior administrative grade	18400-500-22400	Financial advisor & CAO	Executive director
Higher administrative grade	22400-525-24500	Coordinating financial advisor & CAO	Additional member
Higher grade	26000 (fixed)		Financial Commissioner

Brief write up on the service outlining the main functions etc. including areas where interaction and coordination with other services is essential:
The main task of Railway Accounts Department is to advice management on financial matters and maintain accounts in the prescribed proforma. It is also the duty of the Accounts department to settle all claims against the railways, arising out of those transactions which it finds to be legitimate and regular, promptly.

Organisation at Divisional/Workshop levels: Divisional Accounts officers are the representative of FA&CAO at the divisional level. The DAO/Sr. DAO is a mini FA&CAO and he combines in him the function of an accounts keeper as well as a financial adviser to divisional railways managers of the Railway. He participates in the management at Divisional level through periodical meeting of Divisional officers. He is aided by an Assistant Accounts officers. Bulk of the Railway’s staff payment, work contractor’s payment and miscellaneous payment are arranged through divisional officers. Each DAO/Sr. DAO has a small inspection cell with the help of which offices of all functional departments in the Division are inspected on a programmed basis with a view to scrutinize the basis records that do not come to Account of Offices, indeed, DAOs and workshop accounts offices constitute the basic edifice of accounting & financial advice of the railways.

Organisation for ancillary & allied functions: FA&CAO is in charge of the cash & pay Department also which is a sort of treasury branch of his office. At the headquarters level, FA&CAO has a chief cashier & pay master, the letter is assisted by a few Divisional or regional cashiers who receive the cash from stations etc. shroff it, and remit the same to the Reserve or State Bank or other nationalized banks. In each division he has a divisional paymaster aided by a large number of Pay Clerks who, accompanied by armed guards of RPF, take cash for disbursement of emoluments etc. to the Railways Stations and other places wherever a number of employees are posted.

The compilation and statistical work, which akin and allied to that of accounts keeping, is also under FA&CAO. For this, he has Statistical Officers. Likewise, a Traffic Costing Officer who may be either from accounts or from commercial department, also works under FA&CAO. They produce periodical statistics of operation, workshop repairs, commercial results, stores transactions, etc.

Computers on Indian Railways have been placed under FA&CAO’s supervision largely because the work taken on computers is such which was, earlier being done manually in his offices, e.g. check & compilation of traffic accounts, mechanization of payroll, stores accounts etc. For this work, each computers installation has an electronic data processing manager, Sr. system analyst and Sr. programmer. They are drawn from accounts, stores and traffic departments depending upon availability of computer-trained personnel.