Srinagar, Jun 11: In a good news off late for the Valleyites, a Kashmir-origin Indian Railways Traffic Service (IRTS) officer has been elevated to the coveted post of Chief Area Manager, Srinagar.
Saqib Yousuf, an Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer hailing from central Kashmir’s Budgam district would be the first local to hold the charge.
After completing his primary schooling in native village of Nagam, Chadoora, Yousaf completed his Senior secondary from Nowgam.
He went on to secure admission in National Institute of Technology, Srinagar in Electronics and Communication stream after qualifying the AIEEE exam in 2010.
On successful completion of his engineering degree, Yousaf prepared for UPSC Civil Services exam.
Ably supported by his family, Yousaf was allotted IRTS after qualifying the coveted exam in his second attempt securing 472nd rank.
Yousaf has an experience of eighteen months training on his back at the Indian Railways Institute of Transportation Management, Lucknow. The training also included various related modules/courses at other related institutions such as National Academy of Indian Railways, Baroda, National Academy of Audit and Accounts, Shimla, Zonal Railway Training Institute, Udaipur and Centre for Railway Information Systems, New Delhi among others.
During the course of this training, Yousaf got an opportunity to travel over 75,000 kms across the length and breadth of the country from the Sunderbans in West Bengal to Kutch in Gujarat and from Srinagar in J&K to Kanyakumari in Kerala.
Yousaf believes the training for IRTS has made him realise the vast diversity and challenges faced by the country and the potential that can be unlocked to face those challenges.
Yousaf believes that the railways have a role to play not only in driving the economy but also in cutting across social and linguistic barriers to unify the nation.
This is the first posting for Yousuf and he intends to use his position to provide the best possible transportation services to the citizens.