ABOUT US – HISTORY

On 20th October 1985, an informal organization was formed by a group of about 50 retired railway officers of South-Central Railway at Secunderabad , to look after their interests and guide them in their retired life. In 1990 this later became the All India Retired Railway Officers’ Association (AIRROA) and was Registered as such under the A.P Public Societies Act . By 1995, It had grown to over 800 members on S C Rly and about 500 members from rest of the country . Today in Oct 2024 , AIRROA/SC boasts of a pan India membership of about 2000 and about 1900 members of its 16 Affiliate Associations , independently established in the country by our brethren Retired Railway Officers settled at other major divisional / zonal railway headquarters and independently functioning with their own Office bearers and Bye Laws , charter of activities etc.

As enunciated in the Bye Laws of Association (last modified and adopted by its AGBM in April 2018 ) , the aim of AIRROA is to develop comradeship amongst its members as a family and to serve the cause of all members without any commercial interest. It gives all help and advice to members when approached. It helps in seeking better medical facilities to its members collectively. A Quarterly Journal named "Railders' Guardian" (RG) is published and distributed at no extra cost to all members and select Office bearers of the Affiliate bodies , giving important Railway Board's orders as well as orders from GOI / DoPT ( Pension Dept) . Articles on money matters, health matters, our representations to the Government highlighting problems faced by Retired Railway Officers etc. are published apart from other trivia. The Association holds quarterly General Body Meetings on 3rd Saturday of Jan, April, July and Oct. The GBM adopted the Vision Mission Values Statement of AIRROA/SC in July 2024 and a new forward looking logo in October 2024.

The contributions of (Late) Shri B. Jayajaya Rao to the cause of railway pensioners in general and to AIRROA in particular is outstanding and perhaps, second only to (Late) Shri D.S.Nakara , (IDAS , rtd FA / Min of Finance / GoI ) whose birthday has come to be celebrated as National Pensioners' Day on / around the 17th of December every year. After his retirement as Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CCRS) in Sept 1979, Shri B. Jayajaya Rao was inducted into its Executive Committee as a special invitee in 1985 and he served as its President from Jan 1990 to April 1992, April 1994 to April 1998 and April 2000 to April 2002 i.e. a total of 8 years. For the next 7 years till he passed away in Dec. 2009 , he was actively associated as its Adviser. He had contributed a lot in the drafting and submission of AIRROA’s Memorandum to the Pay Commissions , regular articles in RG on money matters specially after the Union Budget, enrolling members from all over country and formation of 16 different Associations in different locations on Indian Railways. He monitored the finances of the Association judiciously and investments were made in safe places where funds would grow. He made AIRROA an effective tool to represent the problems of Railway Officers in SCOVA, New Delhi and Zonal Pension Adalat etc.

Much of what happened before 1990 was gathered through conversations with several founder Executive Members like Shri M. Suryanarayana, Dr. Viswanadha Rao and Shri B.K.Batliwala , which were recorded in some of the annual jubilee issues of RG. It now is well established that the credit for the pioneering idea of establishing an Association of Retired Railway Officers goes to Shri M. Appalaswamy , (rtd. Sr.Claims Officer / SCR) who discussed it with Dr. Viswanadha Rao (rtd MS/LGD) and Shri M. Suryanarayana ( rtd Dy.CPO/SCR) and the three of them hit upon the choice of Shri B.K. Batliwala (rtd.CPLO/SCR & ex CE/SCR) to preside over the first meeting, and approached him as he was a widely and well respected senior railway officer in Secunderabad.

Having obtained his consent, the trio conducted our first ever meeting which was attended by about 50 members, but a beginning had been made. Shri B.K.Batliwala was elected as the first President, Shri Arjun Pershad ( rtd GM/SR) as the first Vice President, Shri M Appalaswamy as the first Secretary , Dr. Viswanadha Rao as the first Treasurer and Shri M. Suryanarayana as the first Joint Secretary , all the pioneering office bearers constituting the first Executive Committee for the term 1985-1989 . (List of Key Executive Committee Members) .We are told that the initial expenses for the Association meetings were all borne by Shri Appalaswamy who sought no reimbursement even when funds and subscriptions and donations started flowing in !

Over the years , the residence of the incumbent President was the official address of AIRROA until April 2010 , when the then GM/ S C Rly was kind enough to consent to our request and allot an exclusive room in the Railway Officers’ Club , S C Rly , South Lallaguda as the permanent registered office of the AIRROA / SC as it was centrally and conveniently located for most retired members. The room has been furnished and renovated from time to time and received a major upgrade with a PC & printer, projector and screen , internet and railway phone in 2024. The ECM meets here on the third Saturday of every month and the GBMs are conducted at the ROC Auditorium every quarter , in months of January , April , July and October .