Jodhpur, Jaipur are cleanest rail stations

Tourist destinations Jodhpur and Jaipur, both in Rajasthan, have clinched the top two spots in the railway station cleanliness survey conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI) for Indian Railways. A majority of the top stations were in Rajasthan, which comes under North Western Railway.

The survey, Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat, declared Jodhpur the cleanest railway station in the A1 category, followed by Jaipur and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh). Among the category A stations, Marwar (Rajasthan) was adjudged the best, followed by Phulera (Rajasthan) and Warangal (Telangana).

The third party audit-cum-survey report studied 407 stations, including 75 A1- and 332 A-category stations. About 70% stations scored 700 or more out of 1,000. The stations were ranked on the basis of the survey and audit by the 160-member QCI-trained team. The railway stations were judged on the basis of cleanliness across the premises, including the main entrance, platforms, toilets, waiting rooms and parking facilities. The evaluation comprised direct observation of QCI assessors and passenger feedback. Besides, a 24x7 control room was set up and images were geo-tagged to monitor the progress.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by PM Narendra Modi was the greatest tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, railway minister Piyush Goyal said at the launch of the QCI report. Sanitation coverage in the country has gone up from 38% to 83% during the National Democratic Alliance rule from 2014 to 2018 with the construction of seven crore toilets, he said.

“The cleanliness rankings of the stations will be an impetus for improvement for the ones that did not make it to the top of the rankings this year,” said Goyal. There has been significant improvement in cleanliness of stations, according to the survey, he said.

The cleanliness survey of railway stations was started in 2016 by then railway minister Suresh Prabhu. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation had interviewed railway passengers on various parameters related to cleanliness before tabling the report. Subsequently, the Railways decided to make it an annual event to identify gaps in the system and improve cleanliness standards at railway stations.