Jodhpur and Marwar railway stations of Rajasthan emerges as cleanliest among others
New Delhi, August 14: Rajasthan's Jodhpur and Marwar railway stations have emerged the cleanliest among the major stations in the country. This was announced by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on Monday.
Notably, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) is a massive campaign launched by PM Modi on 2nd October 2014 that aimed to clean up the streets, roads and infrastructure of India's cities, smaller towns, and rural areas ie. whole country. In the same direction, Indian Railways also moved ahead and cleaned railway stations, tracks etc.
In the latest round of cleanliness assessment study, Jodhpur secured first position in A1 category stations this year, Jaipur was second and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh third. On the other side, in A category, Marwar was first, with Phulera taking the second place and Warangal in Telangana at the third spot.
None of the major stations in the metros found a place in the top 10 list save for Anand Vihar in New Delhi which came in at fifth position.
Speaking on the occasion, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by the PM Narendra Modi is the greatest tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. He added that during the last 4 years, the sanitation coverage in the country which was 38% in 2014 has gone upto 83% in 2018. Nearly, 7 crore toilets have been constructed in the last 4 years, which is a major accomplishment. ]
The Minister further added that Railways has been prioritizing cleanliness, punctuality and catering services for the passengers. In last 4 years, Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Campaign has witnessed tremendous improvement in terms of cleanliness in waiting area, platforms, trains, toilets, parking at the stations.
The Minister went on to state that the cleanliness rankings of the stations will not only be a reward for the stations that have performed well but will also be an impetus for further improvement for the ones that didn't make it to the top rankings.
He added that this year the cleanliness rankings conducted by Quality Council of India shows that in A-1 category stations, two important tourist stations i.e. Jodhpur (1st place) and Jaipur (2nd place) of North Western Railway in Rajasthan have made their mark. Tirupati, which is another important religious station, in South Central Railway, has been placed at a third position in the ranking.
Importantly, A1 and A category stations contribute 80 percent of the passenger revenue. The stations are categorized based on revenue generated and footfalls. The third report of Third Party Audit-cum-Survey of ranking of cleanliness covers 407 stations which include 75 stations in A1 and 332 stations in A category stations.