E-Paper
House panel seeks cleanliness ranking of railway stations
Such rankings as well an audit by a third party of cleanliness measures put in place at railway stations could help the government assess the efficacy of the steps it has taken, a report presented by the committee said.
A Parliamentary standing committee has recommended that the government start a cleanliness ranking of railway stations across the country.
Such rankings as well an audit by a third party of cleanliness measures put in place at railway stations could help the government assess the efficacy of the steps it has taken, a report presented by the committee said.
The government has a ranking system in its flagship cleanliness programme, Swachh Bharat, and in many other projects. Under Swachh Bharat, the government rewards villages or cities for sanitation and cleanliness practices. Officials say that such rankings also help generate a spirit of competition
The railway ministry has been paying a lot of attention to cleanliness in railway stations and on board trains, a major challenge given the heavy traffic the national transporter carries.
The department-related Rajya Sabha standing committee on transport, tourism and culture has made the recommendation among a slew of suggestions. It observed that while in the 2011-12 Budget, the Centre had identified 26 railway stations which were to be developed jointly by the ministries of tourism and railways, only one has completed the sanctioned projects.
The10-member committee is headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Andhra Pradesh MP TG Venkatesh.
The Centre’s UDAN scheme aimed at promoting air connectivity to small towns, too, came under the scrutiny of the committee. Under the third phase of the UDAN scheme, the Committee noted, 36 tourism sectors had been identified by the civil aviation ministry.
“The Committee apprehends that operationalisation of these 36 routes/sectors would face a challenge because UDAN is already facing serious issues with previous two rounds,” the report said, calling for the prioritisation of such ;schemes by the tourism and civil aviation ministries.
