Parliament Question: Religious sites located at railway stations/premises on land owned by Indian Railways

O.I.H GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3318 ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026 RELIGIOUS SITES LOCATED AT RAILWAY STATIONS/PREMISES ON LAND OWNED BY INDIAN RAILWAYS 3318# DR. BHIM SINGH: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the number of religious sites located on land owned by the Indian Railways at railway stations or premises across the country and State-wise, including their classification (authorized or unauthorized); (b) the impact of such sites on passenger safety, crowd and fire management and rail operations or security along with the number of incidents reported in this regard during the last five years, the details thereof; and (c) whether any time-bound Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been formulated for the regulation/relocation/ removal of these sites to ensure passenger and rail safety, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (c): Out of total 4.99 lakh hectare of railway land, only about 0.2% of land (1068 hectare) is under encroachment in various parts of the country which includes unauthorized religious structures also. Railway carries out regular surveys and takes action for encroachment removal. In case of encroachments of temporary nature (soft encroachments) in the shape of jhuggies, jhopris and squatters, the same are removed in consultation and with the assistance of Railway Protection Force and local civil authorities. For old encroachments which are in form of pucca structures (hard encroachment), where party is not amenable to persuasion, action is taken under Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 (PPE Act, 1971), as amended from time to time. Actual eviction of unauthorized occupants is carried out with the assistance of State Government and local administration/police. …2/- §-2- The encroached railway land after retrieval is utilized for infrastructural development of Railways viz. Multi Tracking, Station Development Works, Staff amenities works, etc as per site condition. Also, the land, which is not immediately required by Railway, is entrusted to RLDA for commercial utilization. Further, the presence of religious structures has not impacted train operations and no incidents attributable to these sites have been reported during the last five years. Regulation, relocation, or removal of religious structures involves public sentiments and is handled with due caution. Such sites are periodically monitored to ensure that no further encroachment, expansion, or addition takes place. Further, Railways also make efforts to amicably settle the issue by persuading the members of the religious structure committee to shift the location of their religious structures to other places outside of railway areas. With strict vigilance and monitoring, further proliferation or mushrooming of these illegal religious structures has been prevented. ***** §