By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday that the Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan was announced on 20.06.2020 for 125 days i.e., up to 22.10.2020. The Indian Railways identified 143 numbers of ongoing infrastructure projects like doubling of railway line, electrification of line, construction of new line, construction of Bridge/Road over Bridge, Signaling works etc. for expediting the progress of these projects, under Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan in six selected States. Indian Railways generated 14,14,604 mandays during the Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan in above States.
The details of important measures taken to make Railways disabled friendly are as follows:
Extension of concessional online ticket booking facility to the persons with disability (Divyangjans).Extension of reservation quota of four berths in sleeper class and two berths in 3AC in all trains running on non-suburban sections for Automatic allotment of lower berth to the Divyangjans subject to Allotment of available vacant lower berths available in the train to Divyangjan passengers by onboard Ticket Checking Staff on Earmarking of reserved accommodation for Divyangjans in SLRD coaches attached in Garib Rath Express
Earmarking of reservation counters at various Passenger Reservation System(PRS) centres for dealing with the reservation requisitions received from Divyangjans, Senior Citizens, MPs, MLAs, accredited journalists and freedom fighters, based on demand and availability.
Provision of Wheel Chair for the use of Divyangjan, Old aged Poor people, at Railway stations.
Provision of ‘Yatri Mitra Sewa’ at major stations for enabling passengers to book wheel chairs services cum porterBooking of e-wheelchairs online through IRCTC portal irctc.co.in. The facility is presently, available at 22 stations.Provision of Battery Operated Vehicles (BOVs) at some important stations for Divyangjans, Senior Citizens .Indian Railways is committed to make its railways stations and trains accessible for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) as part of “Sugamya Bharat Mission” or Accessible India Campaign of Government of India. Improvement/ augmentation of amenities at Railway stations, including those for differently abled passengers is a continuous process.
To cater to the needs of Divyagjan Passengers, almost all the Mail/ Express trains running with Integral Coach Factory (ICF) design coaches including Garib Rath trains, have been provided with a specially designed Divyangjan friendly cabin in at least one coach viz. SLRD-Second class cum luggage cum Guard van with Divyangjan friendly facilities. These Divyangjan coaches are, however, not available in special type of trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi, AC Special, Duronto trains etc.
Further, Indian Railways, for enhancing safety of passengers and providing better traveling experience, has taken up proliferation of LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches and accordingly trains running with Integral Coach Factory (ICF) design coaches are being converted into LHB coaches in a phase-wise manner. Owing to non-availability of Divyangjan friendly coaches, in the initial stage of the conversion plan, Divyangjan friendly coaches could not be attached in the trains running with LHB coaches. However, such coaches have now become available and are being attached in a phased manner based on operational feasibility and availability of such coaches.
Ministry of Railways has approved works for installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras in all train coaches including EMUs and passenger trains. CCTV Cameras have already been provided in 4141 coaches. Train type-wise & Zone- wise details are appended.
Policing on Railways being a State subject, prevention of crime, registration of cases, their investigation and maintenance of law & order in Railway premises as well as on running trains are the statutory responsibility of the State Government, which they discharge through Government Railway Police (GRP)/District Police. Cases of Indian Penal Code (IPC) crime are registered and investigated by the concerned Government Railway Police.
The areas and routes prone to crime related to passengers are dynamic in nature and keeps on changing. Based on regular analysis, such vulnerable areas/routes are identified and effective preventive measures are taken to control crime over such spots. Further, State Level Security Committee of Railways (SLSCR) have been constituted for all States/Union Territories under the Chairmanship of respective Director General of Police/Commissioner of States/Union Territories for regular monitoring and review of security arrangements of the Railways.
Indian Railways have approved works for provision of Video Surveillance System at all stations except halt stations.This includes the provision of Integrated Enquiry Response Management System (IERMS) at 983 stations under Nirbhaya Fund to enhance safety of women passenger.So far, CCTV Cameras have been installed at total 814 stations.Provision of CCTV camera is part of Video Surveillance System (VSS). In order to expedite the work, the work for provision of Video Surveillance System (VSS) at stations has been divided between some zonal Railways and RailTel Corporation of India, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under Ministry of Railways, he added.
