Indian Railways Starts ‘Rail Swachhta Pakhwada’: 5 Things To Know

New Delhi: In recent years, the Ministry of Railways has been pushing to give a boost to government’s biggest cleanliness mission – the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in many ways. From introducing innovative sanitation methods in trains to green train corridors and making the tracks zero discharge free zone, the railways is leaving no stones unturned when it comes to Swachhta. Keeping the mission of ‘Swachh Rail-Swachh Bharat’ in mind, the Indian Railways has decided to observe a special cleanliness fortnight drive – a ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ across its entire network.

Here is a lowdown of the Top 5 things to know about the Swachhta Pakhwada:

1. When will the Swachhta Pakhwada be celebrated?

The railways will celebrate the special cleanliness drive from August 16 till August 31. This period is allotted to Ministry of Railways by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

2. The Plan

To make the swachh drives successful, detailed guidelines for the Swachhta Pakhwada has been formulated and circulated to each unit of the Indian Railways. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu hopes to make this ambitious cleanliness drive a huge success and has instructed the Railway Administration to do their best and to give special focus on cleanliness at Railway Stations and in Trains throughout the Pakhwada.

For this the Officers and Staff of all departments has been given special training that as everyone knows what the Swachhta Pakhwada is all about and why it is being celebrated. The minister has also asked the members to be substantially involved in various activities during the drive.

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3. All About The Activities

The Pakhwada has been named as ‘Rail Swachhta Pakhwada,’ and each day of the Pakhwada has been given a special ‘swachh’ theme. The start of the drive has been done with the theme of Swachh Awareness, in which railway staff will pledge to keep these clean and swachh. From Prabhat Pheris to Nukkad Nataks, training and workshops with the slogan of ‘Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat’and different activities are being held across India with a view to raise awareness about cleanliness.

Glimpses of other activities being carried out by the railways

Other day’s theme includes Swachh Samwad (Seminars and workshops will be organised across the rail network), Swachh Stations (a day dedicated to cleaning of all stations), Swachh Ahar (a day dedicated to cleaning of the canteens), to name a few.

4. Special Emphasis

Special prominence will be given to A and A1 category stations for cleanliness in passenger and non-passenger areas including the approach to the stations. Some 200 trains have also been identified for clean-ups during this fortnight, it includes all Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Duranto,Jan Shatabdi, Samapark Kranti, Gatiman, Tejas, Hamsafar and Antyodaya, to name a few.

5. Review And Analysis

Senior officers will be nominated to monitor the campaign at different levels. It is also proposed to monitor cleanliness through CCTV wherever it has been installed. Also, a mid-Pakhwada review will be conducted on completion of one week of the Swachhta Pakhwada. At the end of the cleanliness drive, a comprehensive report will be submitted by Zonal Railways/PUs/CTIs, to track the work done during the Swachhta Pakhwada.