Cleanliness in toilets & coach, major irritants for long-distance train passengers: CAG audit | India News
NEW DELHI: In a telling indicator of the persistent cleanliness issues on long-distance trains — from choked toilets and unclean washbasins to lack of water and dirty vestibule areas — an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found that over 40% of passengers were dissatisfied with toilet cleanliness, while more than half expressed dissatisfaction with on-board housekeeping.The findings are based on a detailed survey of 2,426 on-board passengers across 96 selected trains, conducted by audit offices from 16 zones. The results are a part of the CAG’s report titled “Cleanliness and Sanitation in Long Distance Trains” for 2018-19 to 2022-23 period.However, the auditor noted that 89% of complaints related to toilet cleanliness were addressed within the stipulated time frame, indicating a degree of responsiveness.The audit has highlighted inadequate deployment of manpower and cleaning equipment, along with poor and irregular monitoring by railway officials, as key reasons behind the poor sanitary conditions on long-distance trains.According to the report, bio-toilets in AC coaches were found to be in better condition than those in non-AC coaches. Passenger dissatisfaction exceeded 50% in five zones, including East Coast, Western, and Eastern Railways. In contrast, satisfaction levels crossed 90% in Northern and North Central Railways.Identifying improper usage as a major contributing factor, the CAG recommended “special efforts to raise passenger awareness regarding the proper use of bio-toilets, especially in cases involving non-availability of water or filth in common areas such as near sinks.”On the issue of water availability, the audit surveyed six selected trains in each zone and recorded passenger feedback. Out of the 2,426 passengers surveyed, 366 (15%) reported lack of water in toilets or washbasins. The report also noted that over one lakh complaints regarding water shortages in train toilets and washbasins were registered via the Rail Madad app in 2022-23.To address this, the CAG recommended ensuring enroute water refilling arrangements, especially for long-distance trains and at stations which recorded more frequent complaints.For the assessment of On-Board Housekeeping Services (OBHS), joint inspections were conducted along with railway officials on 15 trains. Service deficiencies were found in 13 of them, which included choked washbasins at doorways, dirty lavatories in sleeper coaches, waterlogging in toilets, and unclean vestibule areas.The audit also reviewed the performance of the Clean Train Stations (CTS) scheme, introduced to provide mechanised cleaning of key coach areas, such as bio-toilets, doorways and vestibules, during brief halts at enroute stations. The report stated that the intended benefits of the scheme were not fully realised due to railway authorities failing to enforce contractual obligations, including the deployment of adequate resources within the scheduled halt time.During joint inspections of 29 CTS across 12 zones, the audit observed limited cleaning of toilets and other areas, and shortfall in usage of machines and deployment of manpower.The report also flagged how the authorities at zonal level failed to ensure compliance with the norm of police verification of contractual staff deployed on trains despite several instances of crime involving such staff having been reported, including rape of a passenger by an attendant on Delhi-Ahmedabad Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani train.
