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Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to conduct a survey on passenger amenities on the basis of gender on the request of Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC)
TISS will take Inputs from both male and female commuters will be taken on facilities such as toilets and general hygiene as well as women’s safety and security.
The move comes days after World Bank managing director Indrawati Mulayani travelled in a second-class compartment from Churchgate to Andheri and she spoke to women passengers who said their biggest concerns were lack of hygienic toilets on platforms.
“Toilets on platforms were not up to the mark which is why the survey has been initiated for more such inputs with a final report to be submitted. As of now, we have put a time frame on the report as we want the complete picture,” said Indrawati Mulayani.
Officials said the survey was currently at a stage where Tiss students and professors were making their own observations of Mumbai suburban as a whole and would finally take commuter feedback for the same and finally draft a report.
“Hygiene of toilets, both for men and women will be surveyed, overall cleanliness at platforms and inside trains and ways to improve safety and security will be looked into,” added the official.
The role of WB is important as they provide loans to countries like India for infrastructure and railway projects for better living conditions.
Ms Mulyani also observed during her visit that closed-doors in trains were being looked at as one of the conditions for granting future loans.
MRVC chief managing director said, “We have given Tiss a contract for conducting the survey but it is still in the nascent stage. They are trained to do this kind of work, so we will see what the findings of the report are.”
MRVC usually conducts surveys on increase in number of passengers on Central and Western Railway in order to pitch any infrastructure additions or new lines to the Railway Ministry.
