New Delhi, August 13: In the recent survey conducted by Quality Council of India (QCI), Jodhpur topped the list of the cleanest station followed by Jaipur and Tirupati. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal today released the report on Station Cleanliness. It is the third such audit cum survey which has been conducted by Railways to increase the level of cleanliness of the railway stations across the country.

Speaking at the event, Goyal said, “During the last four years, the sanitation coverage in the country which was 38 percent in 2014 has gone up to 83 percent in 2018. Nearly, seven crore toilets have been constructed in the last four years, which is a major accomplishment.” The union minister further added that the railways had been prioritising cleanliness, punctuality and catering services for the passengers. He also said that the Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Campaign had witnessed tremendous improvement in terms of cleanliness in waiting area, platforms, trains, toilets, parking at the stations.

Jodhpur and Jaipur stations have been marked under the A1 category. Both of these stations of North Western Railway are important tourist spots. Tirupati in South Central Railway is on the third spot and also kept under the A1 category. Three stations are kept under A category. This category includes two North Western Railways stations: Marwar and Phuler, while Warangal from South Central Railways.

In the Zonal Railway ranking, North Western Railways topped the list, whereas South Central Railways is on the second spot followed by East Coast Railways on the third. According to the survey, as compared to 2017 there is nine percent improvement in top 100 stations, 14 percent in the next 100 stations, 20 percent in 201-300 stations and 31 percent in 301-407 stations. The report has also revealed that 10 Zones have shown 10-20 percent improvement, four zones have improved more than 20 percent, and two zones have shown less than 10 percent improvement in cleanliness as compared to 2017.

First survey conducted by IRCTC in 2016 by conducting interviews of passengers at the stations on various parameters of cleanliness, while in 2017 QCI conducted the second survey.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 13, 2018 11:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).