For a change, tidy railway stations

Kochi: Don’t be surprised if you see top railway officials collecting garbage from railway tracks and giving a fresh coat of paint to the station windows or destination boards on Sundays.

Led by Divisional Railway Manager Sunil Bajpai, railway employees are conducting a cleaning drive at a selected station every Sunday.

“The top divisional officers including me will reach the selected station on Sundays. We’ll take up cleaning ourselves so as to motivate other staff and commuters. Apart from the cleaning staff, there is no compulsion for any staff to join the drive. But so far, the response has been tremendous,” said Bajpai.

Last Sunday, the cleaning drive was held at the Tripunithura railway station. “Before that, it was Kuzhithura and Kozhikode railway stations. We’ll randomly select stations and cover all in the division. This is in addition to the Swachh Bharat campaign being undertaken by the Railways across the country,” the official said.

The process will be a continuous one and not limited by any period. The selected station would be intimated to all staff in advance and interested ones could chip in.

“The drive is not limited to just removing garbage. Giving a fresh coat of paint wherever needed and replacing broken infrastructure like chairs will also form part of the drive,” Prasoon, another railway official, who has taken part in every cleaning drive so far, said.

“We also create awareness among the travelling public not to litter public places. Last time, senior Divisional Commercial Manager Sudheesh V. C. joined us,” he added.