Lok Sabha Question No. 122 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Railway Staff Quarters
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Rahul Ramesh Shewale

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.122

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## RAILWAY STAFF QUARTERS

## 122. SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  staff  quarters  of  Western  and  Central  Railways  are  in  very dilapidated condition in Mumbai;
- (b)  if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c)  whether  any  responsibility  has  been  fixed  for  such  condition  of  the railway staff quarters;
- (d)  if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon;
- (e) the criteria/time frame fixed for major repair of railway staff quarters;
- (f)  the time when the periodical major repairing was done last; and
- (g) the steps taken by the Railways to repair the staff quarters immediately?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) & (b):  Most of the staff quarters in Mumbai under Western and Central Railway are  in  sound condition. Some of the quarters which have become

very old and are in dilapidated condition,  have already been declared as abandoned and presently lying vacant.

(c) & (d): Quarters are the depreciative assets having certain limited life. A systematic  annual  inspection  of  all  buildings  and  structures  is  done recording  brief  of  details  of  repair  works  to  be  carried  out.  For  large colonies, colony inspection committee are formed normally consisting of representatives of Engineering, Medical, Operating and Electrical Departments  and  one  representative  of  recognized  Trade  Unions  to identify  the  major  repair  needed.  Thereafter,  repairs  and  maintenance works  is  done  depending  upon  the  fund  availability  with  Railways.  Also, structural audit of buildings is carried out regularly to  assess  the structural stability. Railway  quarters  found unsafe  or in dilapidated condition and beyond economical repairs during inspection, are declared abandoned/unsafe for occupation.

(e)  &  (f):    Railway  quarters,  identified  for  major  repairs  after  detailed inspection, are repaired periodically depending upon the available resources,  fund  availability  and  condition  of  quarters  which  varies  from place to place.

(g): Minor repairs of staff quarters are being done regularly through Zonal contract  awarded  annually.  Major  repairs  of  quarters  are  being  done through special contract under Revenue & Capital Budget. Constructions of new quarters in lieu of old quarters are also done under works program.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  AND  (b)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  3780  BY  SHRI  THIRUNAVUKKARASAR  SU TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  11.12.2019  REGARDING  CLEAN DRINKING WATER (a) &  (b): The  steps  taken  by  Railways  to  provide  clean  drinking  water and  quality  food  and  catering  material  at  stations  and  in  trains  are  as follows:i. For ensuring supply of clean drinking water at stations as well as in trains, Ministry of Railways has issued instructions to  Zonal Railways to provide  clean  drinking  water  at  railway  premises  by  adopting  'Uniform Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Protocol' issued by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in February' 2013.  Drinking water supplied to the railway  passengers  at  stations  through  drinking  water  taps  is  suitably treated, as per requirement, before the exit point of supply. Regular tests are  conducted  to  ensure  its  quality.  Besides  this,  sale  of  Rail  Neer (Packaged Drinking Water) has been made mandatory in all trains running with pantry cars and all static catering units at 312 stations. In case of non-mandatory units (trains/stations), Packaged Drinking Water of other approved brands is permitted for sale. Presently, approximately 9.5 lakh litres  of  Rail  Neer  (Packaged  Drinking  Water)  is  being  supplied  to passengers  on  Indian  Railways  per  day  from  11  operational  plants.  In addition  to  above,  1962  Water  Vending  Machines  (WVMs)  have  been installed at 685 Railway stations across the country to provide drinking water of prescribed standards at affordable rates. ii.

- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has installed CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras in the kitchens under its management. Live streaming is available in these kitchens on IRCTC's

website  and  Rail-Drishti  portal  of  Railways  (https://www.raildrishti.in). This  enables  close  and  live  monitoring  of  the  activities  in  the  kitchens both by officials and the public. iii. IRCTC has enabled Quick Response (QR) codes to be pasted on food casseroles at 27 Kitchens. iv. IRCTC  has  upgraded  46  existing  Kitchen  Units  during  the  last  02 years. v. Provision  of  E-Catering  services  in  trains  through  branded  players such as Dominoes, etc is being progressively increased. vi. Certification  from  Designated  Food  Safety  Officers  of  each  Kitchen Unit has been made mandatory. vii. Each train provided with pantry car is manned by IRCTC's supervisors who  monitor  services  and  take  feedback  from  passengers  and  take appropriate  corrective  action.  In  premium  trains,  catering  supervisors have been provided with tablets for obtaining feedback from passengers. viii. Food samples are randomly collected by Joint Food Safety Commissioners  /Food  Safety  Officers/Supervisors  and  are  sent  to  the nominated accredited Laboratories under Food Safety & Standard Act for analysis and testing. Food  Safety  Supervisors  of  IRCTC  have  been  deployed  at  Kitchen ix. Units.

x. Third Party Audits are mandated in the Catering Policy and are being carried  out  by  NABCB  (National  Accreditation  Board  for  Certification Bodies) accredited agencies. xi. Customer  satisfaction  surveys  are  conducted  through  Third  Party Agencies. xii. Regular and surprise inspections are conducted by Railway officials including  Food  Safety  Officers.  Penalty  is  being  imposed  in  cases  of unsatisfactory food samples and prosecutions are being launched as per Food Safety & Standard Rule 2011. xiii. A  robust  system  for  passenger  feedback  and  complaints  exists  for redressal through dedicated centralized Catering Service Monitoring Cell (CSMC)  toll  free  number  1800-111-321,  Rail  Madad,  Twitter  handle, CPGRAMS, E-Mail and SMS based complaints.

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