Cleanliness in toilets & coach, major irritants for long-distance train passengers: CAG audit | India News

The findings are primarily based on an in depth survey of two,426 on-board passengers throughout 96 chosen trains, performed by audit workplaces from 16 zones.

NEW DELHI: In a telling indicator of the persistent cleanliness points on long-distance trains — from choked toilets and unclean washbasins to lack of water and soiled vestibule areas — an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has discovered that over 40% of passengers have been dissatisfied with rest room cleanliness, whereas greater than half expressed dissatisfaction with on-board housekeeping.The findings are primarily based on an in depth survey of two,426 on-board passengers throughout 96 chosen trains, performed by audit workplaces from 16 zones. The outcomes are part of the CAG’s report titled “Cleanliness and Sanitation in Long Distance Trains” for 2018-19 to 2022-23 interval.However, the auditor famous that 89% of complaints associated to bathroom cleanliness have been addressed inside the stipulated time-frame, indicating a level of responsiveness.The audit has highlighted insufficient deployment of manpower and cleansing gear, together with poor and irregular monitoring by railway officers, as key causes behind the poor sanitary situations on long-distance trains.According to the report, bio-toilets in AC coaches have been discovered to be in higher situation than these in non-AC coaches. Passenger dissatisfaction exceeded 50% in 5 zones, together with East Coast, Western, and Eastern Railways. In distinction, satisfaction ranges crossed 90% in Northern and North Central Railways.Identifying improper utilization as a major contributing issue, the CAG really helpful “special efforts to raise passenger awareness regarding the proper use of bio-toilets, especially in cases involving non-availability of water or filth in common areas such as near sinks.”On the problem of water availability, the audit surveyed six chosen trains in every zone and recorded passenger suggestions. Out of the two,426 passengers surveyed, 366 (15%) reported lack of water in toilets or washbasins. The report additionally famous that over one lakh complaints concerning water shortages in train toilets and washbasins have been registered by way of the Rail Madad app in 2022-23.To handle this, the CAG really helpful making certain enroute water refilling preparations, particularly for long-distance trains and at stations which recorded extra frequent complaints.For the evaluation of On-Board Housekeeping Services (OBHS), joint inspections have been performed together with railway officers on 15 trains. Service deficiencies have been discovered in 13 of them, which included choked washbasins at doorways, soiled bathrooms in sleeper coaches, waterlogging in toilets, and unclean vestibule areas.The audit additionally reviewed the efficiency of the Clean Train Stations (CTS) scheme, launched to supply mechanised cleansing of key coach areas, akin to bio-toilets, doorways and vestibules, throughout transient halts at enroute stations. The report acknowledged that the supposed advantages of the scheme weren’t absolutely realised as a result of railway authorities failing to implement contractual obligations, together with the deployment of sufficient sources inside the scheduled halt time.During joint inspections of 29 CTS throughout 12 zones, the audit noticed restricted cleansing of toilets and different areas, and shortfall in utilization of machines and deployment of manpower.The report additionally flagged how the authorities at zonal degree failed to make sure compliance with the norm of police verification of contractual employees deployed on trains regardless of a number of situations of crime involving such employees having been reported, together with rape of a passenger by an attendant on Delhi-Ahmedabad Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani train.