Title - Howrah station, Sealdah 'dirty' in CAG report

KOLKATA: A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has brought to light the unhygienic conditions that prevail at major stations like Howrah and Sealdah as well as on trains. The report has also exposed how unclean linen is supplied to upper-class passengers.Eastern Railway (ER) is among the four zones with the maximum number of stations without cement-concrete (CC) aprons, a pre-requisite for mechanized cleaning. Only between 60 and 71% of stations in these zones have the facility."Provision for washable aprons was found inadequate even in major stations of ER such as Howrah, Naihati, Malda, Bandel, Burdwan and Sealdah. The CAG also noted improper sanitation due to night soil deposit on damaged aprons or absence of washable aprons at the Naihati, Bandel, Burdwan and Asansol stations under ER. Thus the railway administration was not able to effectively implement the Railway Board's guidelines of December, 2006, for mechanized cleaning of all major stations," the CAG report states.

The CAG audit has also noted several shortcomings in the Clean Train Stations (CTS) scheme. "Audit observed an average shortfall of about 20% in the number of trains actually cleaned under CTS. The trains cleaned under this scheme were only partially attended," the report said. Sleeper class coaches mostly remained unattended. During joint inspection of trains attended through the CTS project, audit observed that vestibules between coaches were littered with untreated food, used plastic plates, tea cups and other items. These are then thrown out on to the tracks. Toilets in most of the trains inspected were either chocked or dirty," the report states.

According to the CAG, Indian Railways has only partially achieved the objective of maintaining cleanliness in trains mainly due to poor planning and inadequate monitoring at the zonal level. The report has also found several problems with the On Board Housekeeping System (OBHS) on mail/express trains. Under this system, housekeeping staff from private agencies are to travel in passenger coaches and clean toilets, aisles, doorways and compartments. The audit has revealed that of the 554 pairs of trains identified under this scheme, tenders were finalized only for 350 pairs. Based on average Passenger Satisfaction Index, Rs 53 lakh was recovered by South Eastern Railway (SER) from private contractors responsible for OBHS at the Santragachi and Tatanagar stations. The report also has a photograph of a water-logged, dirty, washbasin on the Howrah-Barbil Jan Shatabdi Express which is under OBHS. "Audit conducted in 88 trains revealed several deficiencies. There is lack of adequate publicity through public address system in the station before the start of the journey about the presence of the executive housekeeper for cleaning and sanitation work on the running train. The terms and conditions of OBHS agreement provides for disposal of garbage at notified stations en-route. It was observed that staff didn't turn up for collection of garbage at the notified stations. Sleeper class coaches were mostly left unattended. There is lack of adequate supervision by railway officials in respect of activities of staff involved in OBHS," it has been stated in the report.

The CAG audit has also revealed that unclean linen is supplied to passengers. While ER imposed a penalty of Rs 37.10 lakh on private contractors for not adhering to quality norms, SER charged Rs 12.34 lakh. It was revealed during the audit that 'linen supplied is dirty, torn/tattered and has outlived its prescribed life.' It has been noted that sufficient numbers of automated mechanized laundries have not been set up by the railway zones, resulting in over-dependence on private agencies.