Shri Pratik Kumar IRSS, presently with Southern Railway, is transferred and appointed as Joint Director, Railway Stores (RS) – Inspection and Stores (I&S), Railway Board, Kolkata (order dt 08.12.2025).
The Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS), established in 1936, is a Group ‘A’ central engineering service responsible for the procurement, supply chain management and logistics backbone of Indian Railways. They are known as the logistics managers for transportation of material through the roadways and are responsible for managing huge warehouses attached with the major coaching and wagon workshops as well as the electric and diesel locomotive sheds.
As the cadre overseeing material planning, contracting, inventory control and warehousing, IRSS officers manage the inspection, receipt, storage and distribution of spares, raw materials, plant, machinery and critical components required across the railway network. They also supervise intelligent warehousing systems, automated storage technologies and logistics planning for movement of materials within and across zones.
Recruited through the UPSC Engineering Services Examination, all IRSS officers are trained engineers and undergo an intensive 18-month foundation programme at the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR), including a certified course at IIM Kozhikode and a foreign training module, before being posted as Assistant Materials Managers. The cadre has a sanctioned strength of 542 officers and functions under the Member (Traction & Rolling Stock) of the Railway Board. IRSS officers not only lead the Stores Department but also hold key general administration roles such as Chairman Railway Board, General Manager, Divisional Railway Manager and senior positions under the Central Staffing Scheme.
Over time, the service has evolved from basic storekeeping during the steam-locomotive era to a specialised professional system managing sophisticated procurement after dieselisation and electrification. By some indicative estimates, IRSS officers currently oversee procurement running into tens of thousands of crores annually—often placed in the vicinity of ₹25,000 crore—and manage scrap disposal that is understood to be around ₹3,000 crore a year, while supporting production units, locomotive sheds and workshops. Following the recent restructuring, IRSS functions are being integrated into the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) under the Stores sub-cadre.
IndianBureaucracy.com wishes Shri Pratik Kumar the very best.