CR sells 19mn kg of scraps, earns ₹5.98 cr from decluttering offices

By selling off the scrap material–2,800 office files, e-waste, old machines, computers, furniture and fixtures, among other things–from more than 1,900 offices, the CR has made ₹5.98 crore in revenue

Mumbai: The Central Railway’s two-month long cleanliness drive has churned out over 19 million kg of office scrap freeing up nearly 74,876 sq.ft of cluttered space and earning the railways ₹5.98 crore.

The Central Railway’s two-month long cleanliness drive has churned out over 19 million kg of office scrap freeing up nearly 74,876 sq.ft of cluttered space and earning the railways ₹5.98 crore.

To address the heaps of discarded files and clutter at the heritage building of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and other railway office spaces, CR authorities launched a drive, cleaning up 1,943 offices and 2,565 sites that include stations, foot-over-bridges, platforms and other areas. “We have disposed of over 19 million kg of scrap,” said a CR official.

By selling off the scrap material–2,800 office files, e-waste, old machines, computers, furniture and fixtures, among other things–from more than 1,900 offices, the CR has made ₹5.98 crore in revenue. “This shows that rail authorities are being lethargic in taking care of their own offices. Before cleaning the stations, authorities should focus on cleaning their office spaces from time to time. The quantum of e-waste and old files generated is evident to show how untidy the government offices are,” said Subhash Gupta, president of Mumbai Yatri Sangh.

CR authorities have extended this cleanliness drive at other railway stations and premises too. Every night, the rail staff use mechanised cleaning machines, water through jet sprays, and mops to clean the platforms and walls.

“We conducted over 3,200 cleanliness campaigns across CR stations. One of the problems that our officers encountered was that some people threw the garbage cleaned by our staff back onto the rail premises,” said another CR official.

The railway union leaders said that the rail administration should keep a check on the contractual staff engaged with cleanliness work, adding that the cleaning staff often ignored the smaller crevices and dirty spaces in the rail premises. However, the administration responded that their cleanliness work is properly monitored, documented, and even posted on social media.