One cannot argue here that the Indian Railways are not kept in the best shape, and especially the older trains are in miserable conditions.
The sad thing is that it is not just the economy and lower class compartments that are bad, but even the first class and more expensive areas in these trains are not that much to boast about.
Nevertheless, the Indian Railways is trying to turn its face around, and what with India getting a few upgrades here and there, it was only fair that the Railways too get one.
Thus, the Indian Government has recently bestowed onto the Indian Railways a pretty sweet sum of Rs 1656 crore in order to install bio- toilets in trains across the country, and CCTVs on all of the major stations.
Now, let me just give you all a little breakdown of the money, that is, where on one hand Rs 1155 crore are coming from the Swachh Bharat Mission, for the bio-toilets in trains, the extra Rs 500 crore is coming from Nirbhaya Fund, for the CCTV installation, which will ensure the safety of the passengers and prevent any misdemeanors.
Where the importance of CCTVs is obvious, the bio-toilets will be helping in more than just being eco-friendly. They will also work towards preventing the rusting of rail tracks as with these toilets, there will be no open discharge.
The Railways has already created big plans for the money given, and how to use it exactly.
And to be honest, all this information is quite progressive and positive to see.
We as a nation badly need to move towards a better standard of living and such upgrades are severely needed.
However, taking into consideration what kind of country I live in, with such plans I am more of the mentality that-
I’ll believe it, when I see it.
No offense to the government, but we do not exactly have the best track record *pun intended* of following through with our schemes and such massive plans.
Usually they are not started only or even if they start, then they get completed to a certain limit, maybe the half mark and then suddenly the authorities seem to forget about it all.
One thing that should also be kept in mind with such upgrades is that, the job is not over at just installing such things, but the departments should also make sure of their upkeep and maintenance.
Otherwise these too will get to the same level as our current facilities.
Signing off I would just like to say that, I sincerely hope that with this money, and it is not a small amount that has been given, we can start to massively improve the current status of our Indian Railways, to one where people actually want to travel by train instead of just having to, since there is no other option.
Image Credits: Google Images
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