‘Average’ cleanliness at Ngp station in Rly Board survey

Nagpur: The Nagpur Central railway station, one of the biggest and most important stations in Central India, has been ranked average on the cleanliness index. The final report with detailed results released by the ministry of railways on Thursday says that among the A-1 category stations, Nagpur has a cleanliness Level of 4 with a score between 400 and 499. Cleanliness Level 1 (score 750 and above) was considered as very good, Level 2 (600 to 749) as good, Level 3 (500 to 599) as fair, and Level 4 (400 to 499) was considered average. Nagpur has been placed in the fourth level. Even small stations like Nanded, Solapur and Habibganj (near Bhopal) have beaten Nagpur in cleanliness. At the division level, Nagpur is ranked 7th after Wardha, Ballarshah, Betul, Chandrapur and Wardha. Interestingly, South East Central Railway’s (SECR) Bilaspur station is among the top 10 clean stations.
A preliminary survey report in March had also placed Nagpur at Level 4. This means that in the last four months there has been no improvement in the cleanliness levels. The survey, part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachha Bharat Abhiyan, was conducted across 407 major railway stations including 75 A-1 category stations and 332 A category stations.
The survey was commissioned by the Environment and Housekeeping Management Directorate of the Railway Board. It was conducted by Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) through TNS India Private Limited, which was chosen through competitive bidding.
The report mentions that for every A-1 category station 400 passengers were targeted for interviews while in every A category station 300 passengers were targeted. Structured questionnaires were created to understand satisfaction, and cleanliness indicators were developed in discussion with IRCTC.
The survey was conducted by TNS India, which deployed 45 teams to cover the stations in phased manner, starting from base stations in 19 cities and travelling on routes that would efficiently cover the stations. Based on footfalls, the stations were classified as less than 10,000 to more than 50,000 passengers.
Nagpur Central Railway PRO PD Patil said, “Though there has been drastic change in cleanliness at Nagpur, there is always scope for improvement. The report doesn’t speak about the latest situation.”
Of the total 407 stations, 105 stations are at cleanliness Level 1 & 2, 166 at Level 3, and 136 stations are at Level 4 & 5. Western, South-Western and Southern Railway Zones have highest proportions of Level 1 & 2 stations.