A new institute to impart professional training in management of railway finances was inaugurated here on Sunday by the railway board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav.
The Indian Railways Institute of Financial Management (IRIFM) has been conceived to impart structured and professional training to finance and accounts officers of the railways to face emerging challenges and tap opportunities to strengthen the finances of the organisation, officials said.
In his inaugural address, Yadav said IRIFM is set to herald a fine chapter in financial management of the railways.
He said he envisaged an integrated package for railway training institutions by getting the National Rail and Transport University and the National Academy of Indian Railways onboard to provide the best available training.
"Unless we develop our human resource whether it is managerial or supervisory or technical-levels, no organisation can reallyprogress. We have recognised this fact and as far as training at managerial-level is concerned we have decided that our 'Rail University' and the National Academy of Indian Railways should be able to provide world-class training," Yadav said.
Acknowledging the construction standards maintained by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) which conceived and constructed the IRIFM project at a cost of Rs 85 crore, Yadav expressed confidence that the institution built to world-class standards would earn a reputation within the country and abroad.
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He praised the green building which can generating 90 per cent of its own power needs with solar installations on the campus besides a water-recycling plant.
Speaking on the occasion, RVNL chairman and managing Director Pradeep Gaur said since IRAS (Indian Railway Accounts Service) came up as a specialised service in the country 90 years ago, an exclusive training institution has come up.
Financial commissioner of Railway Board Manjula Rangarajansaid the classes for the Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) probationers were expected to begin by this year-end.
"IRIFM is for rail finance managers. We recognised that this training has to be imparted to the non-finance managers of the Railways also and we seek tobuild programmes for them too," she said.