Rail Drishti lets passengers peep into railway kitchens
26 Feb 2019
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Indian Railways on Monday announced the launch of the Rail Drishti dashboard, a user-friendly website that would make an array of information such as the train schedule, facilities available for passenger on different trains, etc.
Railway minister Piyush Goyal launched the website in New Delhi on Monday.
“Passengers can now see online how their meals are being cooked and packed at railway kitchens. They can also have access to information on railway earnings and train punctuality. All this will be made possible through the e-drishti portal of the Railways,” a Railways release stated.
The web site will also make available a facility to make or track complaints.
The Railways also plans to fix barcodes on food served to passengers, which will enable them to know where and when the food was cooked.
Also, workers who indirectly work for the Railways as contract employees will get benefits, including minimum wages, provident fund and medical insurance cover from Employee State Insurance Corporation, in case they don’t get the due benefits from their employees. This will be possible with the Railways putting in place online systems to track the contractors.
All contractors will be forced to provide employee benefits to their workers as the Railways collects data through its portals like e-drishti, Goyal said.
“Our capital investment is about Rs1,58,000 crore, which includes lots of contract work like house-keeping,” he said adding the aim is to make available information in the most user-friendly manner.
“As we increase WiFi connectivity across the country, hopefully, the public will be able to access all kinds of information like wait-listed tickets and train ticket availability through the web site,” he added. This is an attempt to increase transparency. The Railways may consider fixing CCTV cameras at stations, but is awaiting clarity on security approval.
Freight users can also access the portal and raise concerns if the trains are not allotted to them depending on when and where they placed their demands.
In another move, Goyal announced that the Railways will hand over its surplus land of 45 acres abutting Dharavi in Mumbai to the Dharavi Redevelopment Authority. The Railway Land Development Authority and Dharavi Redevelopment Authority will work together for slum redevelopment, which includes re-development of staff quarters. The land will be handed over on a 99-year lease.
