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This story is from November 24, 2014

Railways to fit dustbins in non-AC coaches after Modi’s anecdote

Cleanliness in trains will no longer be a class issue as railways has decided to make provision of dustbin in all types of passenger coaches. As of now, dustbins are fitted only in AC coaches.
Railways to fit dustbins in non-AC coaches after Modi’s anecdote
NEW DELHI: Cleanliness in trains will no longer be a class issue as railways has decided to make provision of dustbin in all types of passenger coaches. As of now, dustbins are fitted only in AC coaches.
Railway officials took cue from a small incident narrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 'Man ki Baat' programme. In his radio talk, Modi mentioned the Swachh Bharat Mission and quoted a man who wrote to him saying that when he was travelling by train, he saw people collecting their garbage in a polythene bag instead of throwing it around.
A senior official in the railway board secretariat said, “While the PM’s narration was not an indictment of railways, the transporter decided to introduce dustbins in all types of passenger coaches to help travelers keep the compartment clean.”
In some coaches, there is a trash bin under the sink, which is disproportionately small for the size of the coach and its occupants.
Modi's Clean India campaign seems to have enthused the state-run transporter which is flooded with complaints of poor hygiene and cleanliness.

Railways is working on a plan in which senior officers may adopt railway stations to ensure proper cleanliness after a suggestion from new minister Suresh Prabhu who has said that “in railways, cleaning is nobody’s baby”.
Prabhu has advocated banning of cooking and shifting out of commercial stalls, including eateries, from platforms to keep railway stations clean and safe.

As per plan, about 700 stations, out of the 7,500 stations across the country, are being identified to be taken up by individual officers for cleaning from next month.
The minister seems to have noticed departmental rivalry in railways which is not only derailing mega plans of modernization and technological upgrade but also issues like cleanliness and catering.
"There is a constant tussle between medical, commercial and engineering branches on not owning the cleaning job," Prabhu said.
The cleanliness drive was taken up by railways on October 2 on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti in which officials in railway board had to lead the campaign at different stations across the country, but officials made mockery of it by choosing to go to their hometowns or tourist destinations.
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