The nemesis of Indian Railways?spitting at stations?might finally be curbed. After years of dithering, the railways is planning to impose fines and imprisonment on people who dirty its premises.
The railways is also pushing for a large-scale image makeover that includes renovating major stations such as New Delhi and so plans to get tough on offenders. ?There is not much point in renovating our stations if we cannot keep them clean,? an official involved with the process said.
To ensure implementation, the railways is planning to set up a separate authority that would supervise cleanliness and be responsible for apprehending offenders and fining them.
?The Railways Act provides for fines and/or imprisonment for those who create ?nuisance? on railway premises. The power to imprison such nuisance makers already exists with the railway magistrate,? a railway ministry official said. ?We now merely plan to expand the scope of this provision and actively implement it.?
The proposal, along with the creation of a separate authority, is likely to find mention in Railway Budget 2008-09, the official said. The move is one of the many measures that the railways is planning to take in its efforts to provide world-class facilities at railway stations, aboard its trains and in its waiting rooms.
Railway minister Lalu Prasad has already announced the financial year 2007-08 as the year of cleanliness, in the Railway Budget for the year. He had also promised a special campaign to ensure cleanliness and hygiene.
The quantum of the proposed fines and threat of imprisonment is expected to be a serious deterrent for offenders that are unlikely to be disciplined by mere appeals.
Cutting down on the Indian habit of spitting would also generate savings for the railways, which spends a couple of hundred crore of rupees every year repainting coaches and cleaning up tracks and walls left defaced.