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The Union Minister of Railways, Shri Lalu Prasad and the Union Minister of Finance, Shri P. Chidambaram will inaugurate here jointly a professional Seminar on “Financial Management in the Government- Challenges Ahead” to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) on completion of 75 years of managing railway finances in the Government on December 16, 2004. IRAS was formed in 1923 with the separation of railway finances from the general finances of the Government of India in 1924, when Financial Commissioner as ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India was appointed for Indian Railways. Financial Commissioner represents Ministry of Finance in the Railways. IRAS has strength of 550 Members now.
As a part of the function, there will be a C.T. Venugopal Memorial Lecture on “Economic Reforms and Resource Allocation” by the noted Economist, Dr. D.M. Nanjundappa, former Chairman, Railway Fare and Freight Committee.
Within the Railways itself, the officers of the Service have a legitimate sense of satisfaction in playing a pioneering role in the field of computers; introduction of techniques of modern financial management like Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and ‘exception’ reporting; exchequer control as a refinement in budgetary control; restructuring of the budgetary and accounting system including institution of a system of performance budgeting and responsibility accounting, traffic costing, implementation of incentive scheme in workshops and taking over of pension work from the Auditor General.
The wholly Government-owned financial institution, Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC), which is the borrowing arm of Indian Railways, is managed by the officers of IRAS. This institution has set exemplary standards of low-cost commercial borrowing in India and abroad.
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