A group of 68 probationers of Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) of 2011 batch called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.
Array
Addressing the probationers, Mukherjee congratulated them on their success in a very difficult examination.
He said civil engineers have to play a major role not only in maintaining and upgrading the Indian Railways but also taking it to new heights of one of the largest railway networks in the world.
The president said few institutions and organizations could be described as truly pan Indian like the Indian Railways.
"Everyday millions of passengers speaking different languages, consuming different types of food, wearing different types of dresses and believing in diverse religions use one common vehicle for transportation. They lose their individual identities and assume one common identity as passengers of the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways thus plays a major role as an integrator and unifier of this great country," he said.
The IRSE probationers are presently undergoing training at the Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering in Pune.