New Delhi: Blankets for AC coaches will now be washed twice a month instead of the existing practice of once in two months as the railways has changed the material of the covers to make them more wash-friendly.
With the change in policy, the service life of the blankets will be reduced to two years – currently they are used for about four years – and cost is expected to almost double.
According to the revised specifications, the new blankets will be a mix of woolen and nylon.
The heavy woolen blankets currently in use cost about Rs400 (Dh21); new blanket cost is to be decided shortly, said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the task.
The cost of blankets hasn’t been revised in the past 10 years.
Plagued by complaints of dirty blankets, the Indian Railways was forced to firm up an action plan to increase the frequency of washing blankets and replace the existing ones in a phased manner.
The railways need about 3,90,000 blankets daily for AC passengers across the country. While an AC 1st class passenger gets a blanket change after every use, the facility is not available for the AC second- and third-class travellers.
"These blankets with revised specifications should be washed preferably twice in a month subject to available capacity and logistics arrangements. In case of capacity constraints washing should be done minimum once in a month," according the order issued by the railways to all zones.
Based on field experience, the frequency of washing and life of blankets with revised specifications may be reviewed after about one year, it further said.
Besides, used blankets would be sanitised on a regular basis before being given for further use.
Though the directive is to wash the blankets every one or two months, a CAG report had recently highlighted the unhygienic condition of blankets, some of which were not washed for up to six months.
The Railways has also undertaken steps to set up state-of-the-art mechanised laundries at many stations to cater to the increased requirement of daily washing of bedrolls, including blankets.
Our aim is to provide washed blankets along with fresh linen in trains for "each journey," the official said adding: "Efforts are on for [the] improvement of linen management to arrange clean, hygienic and good quality linen to passengers travelling in AC classes."
Currently, about 3,90,000 sets of linen are provided per day comprising two bedsheets, a towel, a pillow and a blanket for each passenger in the AC classes.
There are about 50 mechanised laundries operational at the moment and 10 more will be opened shortly.
