Passengers at Tatanagar railway station can
hope to see clean tracks, platforms and well-maintained waiting
rooms next time they travel as the railways have decided to
outsource the cleanliness job to private companies.

The job will be outsourced by the end of this month. Altogether, 10
private companies are in the fray to take over the cleanliness job
at the station. The tenders submitted by the companies would be
finalised at Chakradharpur, the divisional headquarters, on August
31.

The senior divisional commercial manager of Chakradharpur division,
G.S. Bindra, who is supervising the tender process, said that the
objective of outsourcing is to improve the upkeep of Tatanagar,
which has A-category tag.

"We will finalise the tender by the end of this month and the
private party would start work in the next 15 days," he said. He
added that the contract for the private parties would be for a
period of three years.

For quite some time, the railway authorities were toying with the
idea of privatising the cleanliness and maintenance of the railway
station. In 2005, the railways selected Jamshedpur Utilities and
Services Company (Jusco), a subsidiary of Tata Steel, for
undertaking the cleanliness job. But the proposal did not
materialise due to some dispute over sharing of revenue through
advertisements at the station premises.

This time, the railway authorities are optimistic of finalising the
outsourcing process. "The tender process was initiated according to
norms and we are hopeful of finalising it without any difficulty
this time," said L.B. Ram, the station manager of Tatanagar.

According to him, under the outsourcing initiative, the private
company would be required to look after the upkeep and maintenance
of the platform and railway tracks. Moreover, the private firm would
also be assigned the job of looking after the cleanliness of the
circulating area and the parking space outside the station so that
the whole place in and around the station would be clean.

Earlier this year, the Chakradharpur division outsourced the washing
line for maintenance and upkeep of railway coaches at Tatanagar.
After the move, the maintenance of the railway coaches has improved.

Railway officials said that the next railway station where the
cleanliness activity would be outsourced is Rourkela. The tenders in
this connection would be floated soon after the outsourcing
formalities are completed at Tatanagar.

It would be music for the passengers as there were reports that the
railway station was in very bad shape.

Platform one to four had turned into stinking zone and passengers
waiting with handkerchiefs pressed against their nose were a common
sight at the railway station.

On June 9, a passenger who was waiting for the Howrah-Mumbai
Geetanjali Express threw up after the stink from the railway tracks
became too much for her to bear.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080812/jsp/jharkhand/story_9680121.jsp