Parliament Question: Sanitation Standards in Sleeper/General Coaches

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4437 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025 SANITATION STANDARDS IN SLEEPER/GENERAL COACHES

4437. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRI RAJESH VERMA:

SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE:

SMT. SHAMBHAVI:

SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has reviewed the sanitation standards in sleeper and general coaches of Railways and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the steps taken/being taken to improve availability of clean toilets and waste disposal in long-distance trains;

(c) whether regular audits and cleanliness ranking systems cover general-class travel experience and if so, the details thereof;

(d) the manner in which Government proposes to ensure parity in hygiene across all travel classes; and

(e) the manner in which these improvements support health and welfare of economically weaker rail users ? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (e) Indian Railways makes every endeavour to provide clean and hygienic environment to all class of passengers. --2/--2-

Major initiatives taken in this regard are briefly summarized as under:-  Elimination of direct discharge of human waste from trains through installation of bio-toilets in passenger coaches. The details of provision of Bio-toilets (as on 30.06.2025) are as under:

Period No. of Bio-Toilets fitted 2004-14 9,587 only 2014-25 3,33,191 (more than 34 times)  Mechanized Cleaning of passenger coaches including sleeper and general coaches is being carried out during primary and secondary maintenance. Machines like high pressure jet cleaners, floor scrubbers, wet and dry vacuum cleaners etc. are deployed. Around 200 depots have mechanized cleaning contracts.

 Implementation of Clean Train Station (CTS) concept at nominated stations for limited mechanized cleaning attention to identified trains (including sleeper and general coaches) during their scheduled stoppages enroute. Around 60 CTS stations have been nominated.

 On Board Housekeeping Service (OBHS) is provided in long distance trains for cleaning of coach toilets, doorways, aisles and passenger compartments during the run of the trains. At present, OBHS facility is available in around 1350 pairs of trains.

 Regular Pests and Rodent control is done in all coaches.  Waste generated inside trains is collected and disposed of at around 500 designated en-route stations identified for this purpose. --3/--3-  Special Cleanliness Campaigns under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and cleanliness drives/campaigns are organized regularly over Indian Railways with the objective to achieve significant and sustainable improvements in cleanliness standards.

 To ensure cleanliness, regular checks/surprise checks are conducted by supervisors/senior officials at Divisional, Zonal & Headquarter level with special focus on general class.  Rail Madad portal has been developed to enable passengers to highlight their needs and seek assistance on passenger amenities, cleanliness, security etc, on mobile app or through SMS irrespective of class of travel.

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