Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday launched the "14 Minutes Miracle" -- a cleaning process for all Vande Bharat Express trains which aims to clean the entire train set in 14 minutes to make it ready for its next trip.
The Minister also gave "Shramdaan for Swachhata" at Gurugram railway station.
Vaishnaw first participated in the "Shramdaan for Swachhata", taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for 'Ek Tareekh Ek Ghanta Ek Saath' under the 'Swachhata Hi Seva' campaign.
He participated in the cleaning of railway tracks and the station premises.
The Union Minister for Railways then boarded the Ajmer–Delhi Cantt Vande Bharat Express from Gurgaon Railway station to Delhi Cantt.
He inspected the level of cleanliness in the train and interacted with the passengers.
At the Delhi Cantt. Station, the Union Minister was shown a demonstration of "14 Minute Miracle Cleaning" of Vande Bharat Express by the 'Swachh Vande Veers' and launched the cleaning process for all Vande Bharat Express services across the country.
According to railway ministry, the "14 Minute Miracle Cleaning" involves cleaning of the coaches with discipline and precision.
The fast-cleaning drill will cut down the turn-around time of the Vande Bharat trains.
The process involves deployment of staff in coaches for Dry and Wet mopping of the interiors and exteriors of the coaches and collection of garbage bags and suitable disposable of the waste to ensure Swachhata, the Ministry said.
Addressing the media after the launch of '14 Minute Miracle Cleaning', the Union Minister said that the Prime Minister always inspires us to find new methods and ways to improve delivery of services to the masses.
Vaishnaw said: "We have started a new protocol with this 'Swachhata ka Naya Sankalp' which will ensure reduction in turnaround time for the Vande Bharat express."
He further added that this process has been started with Vande Bharat Express and it will be gradually taken forward, so as to ensure that cleanliness can be spread across India Railways.
Like every year, this year also Ministry of Railways is observing 'Swachhata Hi Seva Pakhwada' (SHS) from September 15 to October 2 to ensure the successful implementation of this campaign, aimed at fostering a much greener and more eco-friendly railway system and ensuring a 'Swachh Bharat'.
This year, during the first 15 days of SHS campaign, more than 2.19 lakh people have participated in around 2,050 activities, devoting 685,883 man-hours for 'Swachhata', the ministry said.
The Railways said that it removed around 105 tons of plastic from the Railway premises and collection of around 1,085 tonnes of scrap collected from various Railway establishments.
A special drive was launched to clear the area around railway tracks.
Under this initiative 12,700 km of track was cleaned by the Indian Railway, the ministry added.
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