Do you wish to work in the Indian Railway as a Group A officer? If yes, you need to get into the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS). To get selected for IRMS, you need to appear for the UPSC IRMS Exam. Know more.
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will select candidates for the Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS) through a new exam named IRMS Exam.
On December 2, 2022, the Ministry of Railways stated that starting from 2023, the recruitment to the Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS) will be done through a specially created examination administered by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
This will be a significant departure from the current system of recruitment, which does not have a unique examination for IRMS.
IRMS and UPSC IRMS Exam
Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS) is a Group A service created by merging different Indian Railway Services.
In the initial years, the entire recruitment to IRMS was based on the UPSC Civil Services Examination.
However, now the Government has notified a separate IRMS examination to be conducted by UPSC.
The new IRMS exam will be multi-tiered, similar to the Civil Services Exam (CSE).
There will be a preliminary screening exam, a main written examination and an interview.
According to a press release from Indian Railways, candidates must take the Civil Services (Prelim) test in order to be initially screened.
IRMS Prelims Screening Test (Level 1)
IRMS Prelims screening test will be done to select candidates for the Mains exam.
Each applicant has to appear for the UPSC CSE Prelims exam.
The suitable candidates will be screened in stage 1 of the IRMS recruitment.
After screening in Stage 1, the candidates must appear for the IRMS Mains exam.
IRMS Mains Examination (Level 2)
The IRMS (Main) Examination will consist of 4 papers of conventional essay type in the subjects set out below:
Qualifying Papers
- Paper A– One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution – 300 marks
- Paper B – English– 300 marks
Papers to be counted for merit
- Optional Subject ‐ Paper 1 – 250 marks
- Optional Subject ‐ Paper 2 – 250 marks
List of optional subjects from which a candidate is to choose only one optional subject
- Civil Engineering,
- Mechanical Engineering,
- Electrical Engineering
- Commerce and Accountancy.
The syllabi for the aforesaid qualifying papers and optional subjects will be the same as those for the Civil Services Examination (CSE).
The common candidates of the Civil Services (Main) Examination and IRMS (Main) Examination may opt for any of the aforesaid optional subjects for both these examinations or choose separate optional subjects for these Examinations (one for the CSE (Main) and one for the IRMSE (Main) as per the schemes of these two examinations).
The language medium and scripts for the qualifying papers and optional subjects (for question papers and writing answers) will be the same as those for the CSE (Main) Examination.
IRMS Personal Interview (Level 3)
IRMS personal interview highlights and details are provided below:
This stage is also known as Personality Test.
It will be the final stage of the IRMS recruitment exam.
Only the candidates who pass the written exams will be called for the Interview round.
The weightage of this stage is 100 marks.
Minimum Educational Qualification
Degree in Engineering / Degree in Commerce/ Chartered Accountancy, from a University incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other Educational Institutes established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.
Age limit, relaxation, and number of attempts
Category |
Age Limit- Upper Relaxation |
Number of Attempts |
General Including EWS |
32 |
6 |
OBC |
35 |
9 |
SC/ST |
37 |
Unlimited (Up to age limit) |
Disabled Defence Services Personnel |
35 |
9 |
Ex-Servicemen |
37 |
9 |
Persons with Benchmark Disability |
42 |
9 |
How should you prepare for the IRMS exam now?
Students with backgrounds in engineering or commerce who intend to take the CSE will likely benefit from taking the IRMS exam.
They will now have another opportunity that is exclusively available to them.
Having said that, there shall be common prelims for all the aspirants.
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