New Delhi: Railway stations in Rajasthan are the cleanest in India and those in Uttar Pradesh and parts of Haryana fared poorly in a station cleanliness survey conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI).
This is the third such audit Indian Railway commissioned in an attempt to increase cleanliness levels and improve hygiene standards by identifying the laggards.
Of the 16 zones of Indian Railway, North Western Railway which includes parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, came out on top in the survey. North Central Railway figured at the bottom of the list.
There are over 8,000 stations on the Indian Railway network and they are classified into seven categories: A-1, A, B, C, D, E and F based on their annual passenger revenue. The QCI survey looked at the 75 stations in the A-1 category and the 332 A category stations.
Among the A-1 category stations, Jodhpur and Jaipur of North Western Railway in Rajasthan captured the first two spots. Both are important tourist destinations. Tirupati, an important site for religious tourism and in South Central Railway, ranked third.Among category A stations, Marwar won the first place and Phulera second . Both are in Rajasthan. The third place went to Warangalin Telangana, on the South Central Railway network.
“During the last four years, sanitation coverage in the country, which was at 38% in 2014, has gone up to 83% in 2018. Nearly, seven crore toilets have been constructed in the last four years, which is a major accomplishment.
Railways has been prioritizing cleanliness, punctuality and catering services for the passengers. In the last four years, Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Campaign has witnessed tremendous improvement in terms of cleanliness in waiting areas, platforms, trains, toilets, parking at the stations,” said railway minister Piyush Goyal.
A number of stations in Uttar Pradesh fared badly in the survey. Varanasi, an A-1 category station, ranked 7th from the bottom and Shahganj, an A-category station, was at the bottom of the list. Ayodhya ranked sixth from the bottom.
Compared to 2017, this year’s survey reported a 9% improvement in the top 100 stations and a 14% improvement in the next 100 stations. In stations ranked between 201 and 300, there was a 20% improvement and 31% in those ranked between 301 and 407.
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