Aruna Nayar, 1987-Batch IRPS Officer and Railway Board Secretary, Appointed Director General (HR)

Aruna Nayar, a 1987-batch officer of the Indian Railway Personnel Service currently serving as Secretary of the Railway Board, has been appointed Director General (Human Resources) of the Railway Board.

The Director General (HR) position carries responsibility for personnel policy, staff welfare programmes, recruitment coordination, and industrial relations matters across Indian Railways' entire workforce, a function that spans the network's operational, engineering, and administrative staff categories nationwide from the Railway Board's headquarters.

Nayar's combination of holding the Railway Board Secretary role alongside this DG (HR) appointment reflects a dual-charge arrangement occasionally used at the Board level, where a senior officer's administrative and coordination responsibilities as Board Secretary complement the more personnel-focused mandate of the DG (HR) position.

The Indian Railway Personnel Service is the specialised cadre responsible for human resource functions across Indian Railways, and officers reaching DG-level postings at the Board typically bring extensive experience across zonal and divisional personnel roles, including staff welfare administration and industrial relations management with railway employee unions.

Employee welfare and industrial relations have remained a significant ongoing priority for Indian Railways given the scale of its workforce, spanning running staff, technical personnel, and administrative employees, each with distinct service conditions the DG (HR)'s office is responsible for overseeing at the policy level.

As one of the senior-most women officers within the Railway Board's current leadership structure, Nayar's appointment adds to the Board's HR policy continuity at a time when Indian Railways has continued to emphasise staff welfare initiatives and modernised recruitment processes across its zones.

The appointment was processed through the Railway Board's standard process for Director General-level postings at its headquarters.