Lok Sabha Question No. 2954 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-08-02
Subject: Improvement in Facilities
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: SHARAD BANSODE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2954 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2017

## IMPROVEMENT IN FACILITIES

## 2954. ADV. SHARADKUMAR MARUTI BANSODE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the  concrete  steps  taken  by  the  Railways  to  improve  law  and order situation in moving trains; and

(b) the steps taken to improve catering facilities and civil amenities during the last one year?

ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS ( SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN )

(a) and (b): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  AND  (b)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2954  BY  ADV.  SHARADKUMAR  MARUTI BANSODE TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 02.08.2017 REGARDING IMPROVEMENT IN FACILITIES

(a):  Policing  on  Railways  being  a  State  subject,  prevention  of  crime, registration  of  cases,  their  investigation  and  maintenance  of  law  and order in Railway premises as well as on running trains are the statutory responsibility of the State Governments, which they discharge through Government  Railway  Police  (GRP)/District  Police.    However,  Railway Protection  Force  (RPF)  supplements  the  efforts  of  GRP  in  providing better  protection  and  security  of  passenger  area  and  passengers  and for matters connected therewith.

Besides,  the  following  steps  are  also  being  taken  by  the  Railways  to improve security in trains:

1. On  vulnerable  and  identified  routes/sections,  2500  trains  (on  an average) are escorted by Railway Protection Force daily, in addition to 2200 trains escorted by Government Railway Police of different States daily.
2. Security  Help  Line  number  182  is  made  operational  over  Indian Railways for security related assistance to passengers in distress.
3. Indian Railways have installed CCTV cameras on a limited number of coaches of passenger and suburban trains on a pilot basis.
4. Surprise  checks  are  conducted  in  trains  to  ensure  security  of passengers and alertness of trains escorting staff.
5. Sniffers dog squads are being utilized for anti-sabotage checks in trains.
6. The  ladies  special  trains  running  in  metropolitan  cities  are  being escorted by lady RPF personnel. Staff deployment is made in ladies compartments  of  sub-urban  trains  during  late  night  and  early morning to ensure proper security to lady passengers.

7. Drives  by  Commercial  Department  and  RPF  are  conducted  from time to time against the entry of unauthorised persons in trains.
8. Close liaison is made by RPF with the State Police/GRP authorities at  all  levels  for  prevention  of  crime,  registration  of  cases,  their investigation and maintenance of law and order in Railway premises as well as on running trains.

(b):  With  the  objective  to  provide quality food to rail passengers, new Catering  Policy  2017  has  been  issued  on  27.02.2017  wherein  Indian Railway  Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation  Limited  (IRCTC)  has  been mandated to carry out the unbundling by creating a distinction primarily between  food  preparation  and  food  distribution.  The  new  catering policy,  inter-alia,  includes  the  following  features  for  unbundling  of catering services (i) IRCTC shall manage catering services on all mobile units.  (ii)  Meals  for  all  mobile  units  will  be  picked  up  from  the nominated  kitchens  owned,  operated  and  managed  by  IRCTC.  (iii) IRCTC will engage service providers for hospitality industry for service of  food  in  trains.  (iv)  IRCTC  shall  not  outrightly  outsource  or  issue licenses  for  provision  of  catering  services  to  private  licensees.  (v) IRCTC shall retain the ownership and shall be fully accountable for all the issues pertaining to setting up and operation of the Base Kitchens and quality of food. (vi) IRCTC shall ensure compliance of all statutory guidelines  viz.  FSSAI  norms  of  food  safety  in  Base  Kitchens/  kitchen units  and  mobile  catering  units,  pollution  control,  Green  Tribunal  etc (the statutory bodies mentioned are indicative in nature, not exhaustive).  (vii)  Third  Party  Audit  of  mobile  units  and  base  kitchens shall be done by Zonal Railways periodically by an independent agency.

Other steps taken to ensure good quality and hygienic food served to the  passengers  inter-alia  include:-  (i)  Phased  introduction  of  station based e-catering at all A1 and A category stations for widening the

range  of  options  available  to  passengers  for  ordering  food  of  their choice.  (ii)  Introduction  of  precooked  food  ('ready  to  eat'  meals).  (iii) Operation of Centralized Catering Service  Monitoring Cell (CSMC) (toll free number 1800-111-321) for prompt redressal of passenger grievances relating to the catering activities and real time assistance to travelling public. (iv) Imposition of penalties in case of deficiencies detected in services. (v) Operation of All India Helpline (No. 138) for railusers  to  lodge  complaints/suggestions  regarding  food  and  catering services (vi) A Twitter handle with the address @IRCATERING has also been  made  operational  to  cater  to  the  complaints/suggestions  with regard to catering services.

On  Board  House  Keeping  Service  (OBHS)  is  being  provided  in  all Rajdhani,  Shatabdi  and  other  important  long  distance  Mail/Express trains  for  cleaning  of  coach  toilets,  doorways,  aisles  and  passenger compartments during the run of the trains. This scheme was implemented in 670 trains up to March'2016.Now the OBHS scheme has been extended to cover nearly 900 trains.

Provision  of  enhanced  passenger  amenities  in  train  coaches  is  a continual  endeavor  of  the  Indian  Railways.  New  trains  having  better passenger amenities, such as Tejas, Humsafar and Antodaya have been introduced during the last one year.

Indian  Railways has more than 8000 Stations. It has always been the endeavour  of  the  Railways  to  provide  adequate  amenities  to  the passengers at the stations. Certain amenities are provided at the time of construction of new stations based on anticipated volume of traffic. Amenities  are  further  augmented  from  time  to  time  with  growth  in passenger traffic handled at stations, based on the felt need, expectations of the travelling public and availability of funds.

In the recent past Indian Railways have taken various steps to improve the  services  and  facilitate  the  passengers,  some  of  which  are  given below.

## At stations:

- i. Lifts  and  Escalators  at  the  stations  for  facilitating  movement across platforms.
- ii. Battery Operated Vehicles for carrying passengers before/after the  train  journey,  especially  senior  citizens  and  persons  with disabilities.
- iii. Yatri Mitra Sewa for passengers requiring wheel-chair assistance.
4. Well  appointed  Retiring  Rooms,  Waiting  Halls  and  Executive
- iv. Lounges to relax for passengers during transit.
6. v.
7. Wi-Fi facility at 127 important stations on Indian Railway.

## In Reservations and travel:

- i. Introduction  of  the  Alternate  Train  Accommodation  Scheme known as 'VIKALP'  to  give  option  to  waitlisted  passengers  to shift to alternate train having vacant accommodation.
2. Provision of facility to physically handicapped persons to book
- ii. reserved tickets online.
- iii. Introduction  of  paperless  unreserved  ticket  booking  through mobile phone.
- iv. Automatic refund of confirmed/ Reservation Against Cancellation(RAC)/e-tickets on cancellation of trains.
- v. Enhancement of Senior Citizen Quota as well as quota earmarked for persons with disability.
- vi. Making  provision  in  the  system  for  automatic  preparation  of reservation  charts  at  least  four  hours  before  the  scheduled departure of train.

- vii. Provision  of  facility  to  book  available  accommodation  after preparation of first reservation chart through internet as well as across any computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counter upto preparation of second reservation chart.
- viii. Acceptance of all International Credit/Debit cards for booking of e-tickets through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation ( IRCTC ) website.
- ix. The  passengers  having  confirmed/RAC/Waitlisted  PRS  counter tickets may cancel the same through IRCTC website (www.irctc.co.in)  or  through  139  within  the  prescribed  time limit  and  the  refund  amount  maybe  collected  across  PRS counter on surrendering the original ticket.
- x. In  order  to  facilitate  cancellation  of  PRS  counter  tickets  at relatively  smaller  stations,  one  of  the  Unreserved  Ticketing System( UTS) cum PRS counters (wherever PRS booking facility is available) has been earmarked for granting refund beyond the working hours of PRS counters/Current counters. This facility is available  in  respect  of  PRS  counter  tickets  for  those  trains whose scheduled departure time is within the next 24 hours.
- xi. Establishment  of  Yatri  Ticket  Suvidha  Kendras  for  issuing  of tickets through public private partnership for establishment and operation of computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS)-cum Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) terminals.
- xii. Facility for booking unreserved ticket including platforms tickets  and  Season  Tickets  through  mobile  phone  in  the  6 suburban  sections of Indian Railway in Kolkata,  Mumbai, Chennai, Secunderabad  and  in Delhi -Palwal and DelhiGhaziabad sections of Northern Railway.

- xiii. Commencement  of  concierge  services  with  facility  for  online booking  of  wheelchairs  through  IRCTC  website  at  New  Delhi and 23 other stations.
- xiv. Provision  of  Automatic  Ticket  Vending  Machines  to  facilitate purchase of unreserved journey tickets.
- xv. Extension of e-ticketing facility to foreign debit/credit cards for foreign tourists and NRIs.
- xvi. Commissioning  of  online  booking  of  retiring  room  at  over  488 Railway stations.

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