Filling up railway board vacancies top priority: Kharge

New Delhi, June 17: Filling up of vacancies in Railway Board will be the top priority of new Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge.

"I will give priority to filling up vacancies in Railway Board as soon as possible," he told reporters after getting the Railway portfolio in the Cabinet reshuffle.

Asked about the Railways' performance, he said, "Whatever time is available now, I will try to do my best."

Currently, Member (Staff) Mahesh Kumar is behind bars and under suspension as he is accused of bribing Vijay Singla, nephew of former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, for a top post in Railways.

Besides, the post of Member (Traffic) is vacant while Chairman of Railway Board Vinay Mittal and Financial Commissioner Vijaykanth are retiring on June 30.

Railways has to show urgency in shortlisting the possible names for these key posts and submit them to the DoPT for consideration.

Former Road and Transport Minister C P Joshi, who was given additional charge of Railways after Mr Bansal's resignation, could not finalise the key appointments and left it to the new Railway Minister.

PTI