Meet The First Woman Chairperson in India Railways Jaya Varma Sinha

Jaya Varma Sinha has taken over as the new Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Railway Board, Ministry of Railways, in Rail Bhavan, on Friday, September 01, 2023. She is the first woman to be appointed to this significant post of Indian Railways. Jaya Varma Sinha will succeed Anil Kumar Lahoti.

The Government of India released a notice on August 31, 2023.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Smt. Jaya Verma Sinha, Indian Railway Management Services (IRMS), Member (Operations & Business Development), Railway Board to the post of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Railway Board in the Apex scale [Pay Level -17 as per 7th CPC] for a period w.e.f. the date of assumption of charge on or after 01.09.2023 till the date of her superannuation and her re-employment on the post w.e.f. 01.09.2023 till 31.08.2024 on usual terms and conditions, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," read the notice.

Meet Jaya Varma Sinha, New Chairperson, CEO of Railway Board

• Ms Sinha has graduated from Allahabad University

• She has worked as a Member (Operations and Business Development) Railway Board

• She has also worked as Additional Member, Traffic Transportation, Railway Board

• She was responsible for the overall transportation of freight and passenger services on Indian Railways

• Sinha belongs to the 1988 batch of Indian Railway Traffic Service

• She was the first woman to be appointed as the Principal Chief Operations Manager of South Eastern Railway

• Sinha had also worked as the Railway Advisor at the High Commission of India in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Jaya Varma Sinha was also the public face of the railways in the wake of the tragic Balasore accident, that killed nearly 300 people in Odisha, explaining the complex signaling system to the media.