The Indian Railway Medical Service (IRMS) is an organized Group 'A' service (cadre) of the Government of India. The officers of this service are responsible for providing comprehensive health care to the serving railway employees, retired railway employees and their dependents as well as other categories of staff such as contractors, vendors and licensed porters.
The direct recruitment to the cadre is done through the Combined Medical Services Examination held by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). As of 2011, the approximate cadre strength of IRMS is 2,506. Training of the probationers is done in Railway Staff College/now National Academy of Indian Railways,Lalbaug Vadodara. After completion of training, they are posted as Assistant Divisional Medical Officers across the Indian Railway network.
Role and function
To perform following three important functions:
To attend Railway accident & other untoward incidences
To provide emergency medical treatment to traveling sick passengers
Pre employment Medical examination to allow only fit & suitable candidates to join the services.
PME (Periodical Medical Examination) of serving employees to allow fit persons to continue in those jobs which are related to safe running of the train.
To conduct medical Boards & other medical certification of serving employees.
To control loss of man-days on account of sickness.
To ensure safe water supply at Railway Station:
To constantly check on quality of drinking water and food made available at Railway Stations.
Certification of dead bodies at Railway Station, Railway Yards, Railway line etc.( It may be noted that MLC should be made before certification of dead bodies, otherwise any doctor can later on have to face charges of collusion. Therefore certification of dead bodies should be done after the local police shifts the dead body to the nearest hospital and not at the railway station itself.)
Certification of perishable goods in Railway Station about their disposal.
To provide curative health care at primary, secondary and tertiary level.
To provide preventive health care.
To provide promotive health care.
Railway has six Territorial Army Regiments. Railway doctors are part of Railway Territorial Army units and annually attend one month in training camp and perform other duties assigned to them in unit.
The cadre is headed by a Director General, Railway Health Service (DG/RHS) reports to the Railway board at Rail Bhawan, New Delhi.
At the Railway board level, the DG/RHS is assisted by Executive Director (ED/General), Executive Director (ED/Planning), Director/Health and Family welfare, Director/Industrial Health and other officers.
At the Zonal level, the operations of the medical services are headed by a Chief Medical Director (CMD) who acts as the administrative head of the entire zone. The CMD is assisted by Medical Director (MD) and by Dy. Chief Medical Directors (Dy.CMD).
At the divisional level, the operations are headed by a Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS). In some divisions, Additional Chief Medical Superintendent (ACMS) or Medical Superintendent (MS)-in-charge head the functioning of the medical department.
At the sub-divisional or peripheral level, the operations might be headed by Additional Chief Medical Superintendent (ACMS) or Senior Divisional Medical Officers (Sr.DMO) and in some cases, by the Divisional Medical Officer (DMO).
