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Providing a fillip to the public-private partnership (PPP) model of functioning, preparations are now afoot to hand over cloakrooms of many railway stations of North Central Railway (NCR) to private hands. China Shower Enclosure
By outsourcing the functioning of these cloakrooms, they will now be operated by agencies contracted for this work. Preparations are being made for launching this initiative at Prayagraj Junction, Chheoki, Kanpur Central, Aligarh and Agra stations among others, informed NCR officials.
To begin with, the process of awarding the contract of running the cloakroom at the Prayagraj division has also been started. The tender process will be done through e-auction. Earlier, the tender process of pay and using toilets in the Prayagraj division has been done through e-auction as well.
“The passengers should not worry as far as charges of cloakroom are concerned as they will not be exorbitant because the agency cannot charge rates at its discretion. The charges are fixed by Railways,” said chief public relations officer, NCR, Shivam Sharma.
Cloakroom outsourcing has already been done by Agra Division and it is running fine, he added.
PRO of Agra division of NCR, Prashasti Shrivastava said, “Taking the maxim of ‘minimum government- maximum governance’ forward, Agra division has outsourced management of cloakrooms for the first time. This has not only led to the saving of manpower (a total of 9 staff) but has also generated a new avenue of revenue for railways in NCR. Besides, passenger amenities will also improve with a 24-hour cloakroom at Agra Cantonment, Agra Fort and Mathura Junction.”
Over three years, this outsourcing is saving railways ₹ 41 lakh and generating an additional income of ₹ 22 lakh, thus taking the total deemed earning of ₹ 63 lakh, she added.
Bath Fittings As per present practice, running the cloakroom is the responsibility of the Railway staff and the exiting rate is ₹ 15 (excluding GST) per piece of luggage for the first 24 hours and ₹ 20 for every next 24 hours.