Lok Sabha Question No. 2848 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-10
Subject: Facilities for Disabled
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2848 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.07.2019

## FACILITIES FOR DISABLED

†2848. SHRI BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA:

- Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a)  the  number  of  railway  stations  across  the  country  where  adequate facilities for persons with disability (Divyangjans) are not available; (b) the number of railway stations across the country where wi-fi facility has not been provided so far; (c) the number of railway stations falling under my Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh where adequate facilities for Divyangjans are not available; (d) whether there is any Action Plan to provide the said facilities in future; and (e) if so, the time-frame decided in this regard?

ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.2848  BY  SHRI  BHANU  PRATAP  SINGH  VERMA  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  10.07.2019  REGARDING  FACILITIES  FOR DISABLED

(a)  Indian  Railways  has  more  than  8700  stations  and  it  has  always been the endeavour of the Railways to provide adequate amenities to passengers  at  Railway  Stations,  including  those  for  differently  abled passengers  (Divyangjan)  which  is  a  continuous  process.  Provision  of facilities for  Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) are to be provided at  all  stations  over  Indian  Railways  based  on  the  needs  of  travelling public and availability of funds. In order to provide better accessibility to  Persons  with  Disabilities  (Divyangjan),  Short  Term  Facilities  and Long Terms facilities have been planned at all stations, beginning with Non Suburban Group 'NSG 1', 'NSG 2', 'NSG 3' & 'NSG 4' (erstwhile 'A-1', 'A'  &  'B')  category  stations.    The  details  of  Railway  stations  provided with Short-Term Facilities so far for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) under all categories of stations over Indian Railways are as under:-

|   S.No. | Facility for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)                                        |   Approximate number of stations, where facility provided |
|---------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Standard ramp for barrier free entry                                                       |                                                      2670 |
|       2 | Earmarking at least two parking lots                                                       |                                                      1604 |
|       3 | Non-slippery walk-way from parking lot to station building                                 |                                                      1557 |
|       4 | Signages of appropriate visibility                                                         |                                                      1607 |
|       5 | At least one drinking water tap suitable for use by Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) |                                                      2184 |
|       6 | At least one toilet (on the ground floor)                                                  |                                                      2757 |
|       7 | May I help you booth                                                                       |                                                      1322 |

Long-Term Facilities are to be provided for Divyangjan at 'NSG-1' to 'NSG-4' categories of stations, which are as follows:-

|   S.No. | Facility for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)   |   Approximate number of stations, where facility provided |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Engraving on edges of platforms                       |                                                      1939 |
|       2 | Provision of facility for inter-platform transfer     |                                                      1288 |

Further, in order to facilitate easy movement of elderly, sick and differently  abled  passengers  and  for  smooth  access  to  platforms  of major railway  stations  and  for  ease  of  movement,  escalators/lifts  are being  provided  as  part  of  'Sugamya  Bharat  Abhiyan'.    So  far,  669 escalators  at  240  stations  and  493  lifts  at  214  stations  have  been provided.

(b) to (e) Wi-Fi facility has been provided at 1609 Railway Stations so far.  Around  4800  Railway  Stations  across  the  country  have  not  been provided with Wi-Fi facility presently. Adequate facilities for passengers  including  Persons  with  Disabilities  (Divyangajan)  have been provided at all the stations under your constituency. Two (2) nos. of lifts has been sanctioned for Orai Railway Station.

All General Managers of Zonal Railways have been instructed to provide Special Training Modules on Soft Skills as a part of Initial/Refresher/Special Courses to all frontline staff directly dealing with  customers wherein greater thrust has been given towards customer satisfaction and the need to focus on customer as principal client.

All  commercial frontline staffs are given special training on passenger amenities wherein training on special facilities provided for Physically Challenged persons and provision of wheel chair are given.

-  Zonal  Railways  have  been  instructed  to  provide  one  wheelchair per platform and in case of island platforms, one wheel chair per two platforms at all A-1 and A category stations.
-  Yatri  Mitra  Sewa  has  also  been  introduced  at  major  railway stations  for  enabling  passengers  to  book  wheel  chairs  services cum porter services free of cost through NGOs, Charitable trust, PSUs  etc  under  CSR  and  responsibility  of  providing  this  facility has been entrusted with IRCTC. In case of lack of response from NGOs, Charitable trust, PSUs etc., this service  may  be  arranged on payment basis through a service provider or on it own.
-  Passenger  can  book  e-wheelchairs  on  line  through  IRCTC  portal www.irctc.co.in. The facility is presently, available at 22 stations i.e. Ahmedabad,  Agra  Cantt., Vadodara, Varanasi,  Bhusawal, Vijayawada, Kanpur Central, Mumbai CST, Mumbai Central, Howrah,  Indore,  Jhansi,  Jaipur,  Lucknow  Jn.,  Lucknow,  New Delhi, Nagpur, Pathankot Cantt., Pune, Bengaluru City, Secunderabad and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra.
-  Passengers can book cab/coach & porter service online  through IRCTC portal www.irctc.co.in. The facility is available at Chandigarh,  Gaya,  Guntur,  Howrah,  Jaipur,  Lucknow,  Lucknow Jn.,  Madurai,  New  Delhi,  Delhi  Jn.,  Hazrat  Nizamuddin,  Delhi Safdarjung, Anand Vihar, Delhi Cantt., Delhi Sarai Rohilla, Tirupati and Vijaywada.
-  Powers have been delegated to DRMs to decide the provision of Battery  Operated  Vehicles  (BOVs)  at  station  on  merit  -  whether free  of  cost  through  commercial  publicity  route  or  through  'user pays' route.
-  At  the Divisional level,  Chief  Travelling  Ticket  Inspectors/Incharges (CTTI/ICs),  Station  Managers  (SMRs)  and  concerned Commercial Inspectors are directed to perform duty as a disability  Inspector  for  providing  assistance  to  Persons  with Disabilities.

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