In the august presence of Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Railways and Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) to evaluate the Green Initiatives and rate the performance of Industrial Units of Indian Railways which are pursuing environmentally sustainable practices, was signed and “Final Report on the Passenger Feedback Survey at major Railway Stations for Cleanliness Ranking” was E-Released today i.e. on 26.07.2016. Minister of State for Railways & Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communication Shri Manoj Sinha and Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain was present to grace the occasion. On the event of Signing Ceremony, Chairman Railway Board Shri A. K. Mital, Member Mechanical Shri Hemant Kumar, and other Board Members and Senior Officials were present. On behalf of the Railway Ministry Smt. Kalyani Chadda, EDME(W) signed the MoU whereas on behalf of CII Shri S. Raghupathy, Dy. Director General, CII signed the MoU. The MoU was signed in the backdrop of Railway Minister’s Budget announcement.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Suresh Prabhu pointed out that notwithstanding the fact that Railways is an environment friendly transport, multi pronged green initiatives are being taken by Indian Railways. This includes the share of renewables in energy consumed, better Water Management including Water Audit, Solid Waste Management including Waste to Energy plants etc. The association with CII will enable Railways to weigh their green initiatives against the global standards. The partnership with CII has come in the right time when Railways are in the change mode for a sustainable growth. Indian Railways have been playing a key role in every aspect of Government’s initiatives. The provision of bio toilets in a large scale to avoid open discharge from the coaches is a major step towards this. Recently, the Manmadurai – Rameshwaram section of Southern Railway was declared as a first green railway section. Indian Railways have so far provided more than 40,000 bio toilets.
During this year, another 30,000 bio toilets are proposed to be added. The unique effort of bio vacuum toilets by Indian Railways will be a big game changer in this regard if the trials prove successful.Speaking on the occasion, Shri Manoj Sinha said that Railways which has its production units in almost all parts of the country should ensure some environment friendly measures like solar energy, energy audit, water harvesting. He said that keeping in mind all these measures, today’s MoU has been signed so that environment friendly measures could be taken.Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain said that Railways being the biggest industry of the country is conscious towards the environment friendly measures and these measures could bring drastic change after implementation.