E-Paper
5,231 railway coaches to be used as Covid-19 isolation wards at 215 stations
The coaches shall be deployed in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.
The Centre has drafted a plan to deploy 5,231 railway coaches as isolation wards across 215 stations in 15 states “considering the possibility of an increase in cases of Covid-19.”
The ministry of railways said on Thursday the plan is to use these coaches if a state has “exhausted the facilities and needs to augment capacities for isolation...”
The health ministry has come out with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for deploying these coaches. “The coaches can be used for very mild cases that can be clinically assigned to the COVID care centres as per guidelines issued by the health ministry,” it said.
The coaches shall be deployed in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.
The national carrier will provide health care facilities in 85 of the 215 stations. In the rest of the 130 stations, states will run the operations only if they are able to provide staff and essential medicines, the ministry said.
According to the health ministry guidelines, states will request the railways for the deployment of such coaches if the need arises. After allocation by the railways, coaches will be placed at the required station with necessary infrastructure. The concerned district collector/magistrate or a nodal officer appointed by the government will be handed over the responsibility.
Catering arrangements shall be done by the Indian Railways’ catering arm, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the guidelines said. Watering, electricity as well as repairs required shall be taken care of by the railways. The Railway Protection Force will ensure security to the coaches, patients and staff working there.
The railways will designate state-wise nodal officers for allocation of trains and for coordinating with the respective state governments.
“As far as possible, wherever cases are admitted in the COVID Care Centre coach, preferably individual cabin should be assigned for each case. Should the situation warrant, up to a maximum of two confirmed patients can be assigned in individual cabin,” the guidelines said.
Additionally, the national carrier will deploy more than 2,500 doctors and 35,000 paramedic staff to combat Covid-19. Doctors and paramedics are being recruited on a temporary basis by various zones of the railways, the guidelines said. Around 5,000 beds in 17 dedicated hospitals and 33 hospital blocks in railway hospitals have been identified for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
