New Delhi:

Blankets provided to train passengers are washed at least once a month and an additional bedsheet is provided in the bedroll kit for its use as a quilt cover, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

He was responding to Congress MP Kuldeep Indora’s question, “whether woollen blankets are washed only once a month while passengers are paying for bedding that meets the basic hygiene standards”.

In a written reply, the minister said, “The blankets used in Indian Railways, as per current specifications, are lighter, easy to wash and provide good insulation to passengers for an overall comfortable journey experience.” He mentioned several measures taken to ensure passenger comfort and safety, including procurement of new linen sets with improved BIS specifications to ensure better quality, mechanised laundries to ensure supply of hygienic linen sets, use of standard machines and specified chemicals for washing of linen, and monitoring linen washing activities.

Whito-meters are used to check the quality of washed linen items and the codal life of linen items has been reduced from the previously prescribed duration to allow quicker induction of fresh items, Vaishnaw said.

“War rooms have been established at zonal headquarters and divisional levels to monitor/prompt action on complaints lodged on RailMadad portal, including complaints on linen/bedroll,” he said.

Besides eco-friendly packaging of bedrolls, improved logistics are used for storing, transportation, loading and unloading of linen/bedrolls at stations and on trains, the minister added.

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