New Delhi: In a structural change, Railways has formed a separate wing for housekeeping activities in the trains and at the platforms as part of its concerted effort to maintain the standards of cleanliness and hygiene.
Currently, the housekeeping activities in the trains and at the stations were being managed by different departments of Indian railways.
"This has posed limitations in improving the standards of housekeeping. Also, best skills and expertise available in this field could not be deployed for meeting the requirements of trains and stations which is a core area of passenger service," said a senior Railway Ministry official associated with the job.
So, it has been decided to create an exclusive wing of housekeeping management to achieve best results, he said.
Presently, railways is offering onboard housekeeping services in 540 trains including Rajdhanis, Shabadis and Durontos.
The railways, however, receives maximum number of complaints related to unhygienic conditions at the platforms and in the trains.
The official said all 16 railway zones would have integrated housekeeping management.
To begin with, integrated housekeeping would be done in Northern, South Central and Southern zones and later it would be proliferated to other zones.
Professional housekeeping service providers would be engaged with the latest appliances/techniques on the massive and sensitive job of housekeeping in the trains as well as major stations to achieve better results in the days to come, he said.
Housekeeping work involve cleanliness at stations, platforms, waiting rooms and coaches including toilets and bed linen.
