Vijayawada: South-Central Railway distributes masks, sanitisers to employees

Vijayawada: When the short supply of sanitisers, face masks and personal protection kits are creating problems across the country, the Vijayawada Railway staff have produced sanitisers from available Iso-Propyl alcohol and other raw materials as per WHO guidelines and distributed them to the staff. The Railways have become role model for other departments.

The South-Central Railway, Vijayawada Division, on Tuesday distributed kits to loco pilots, Assistant loco pilots, Guards and all other field staff involved in train operations of the Division to ensure their health and safety while on duty. This kit consists of sanitiser, Dettol soap, triple layer mask, gloves and tissue papers.

A total of 400 litres of sanitisers packed in 2,000 bottles of 200 ml capacity along with gloves and masks were distributed in packed kits to the front-line staff of all the departments involved in freight operations and asset maintenance. More than 1,000 masks made with cloth material available at depots were also distributed to trackmen and other field staff by Engineering Departments in various sections. Foot operated wash basins are installed at health units at Rajahmundry, Samalkot and Tuni along with staggered adjacent row markers to ensure social distancing while washing. P Srinivas, Divisional Railway Manager, Vijayawada complimented Dinesh Reddy, senior DEE/ELS for taking such a novel initiative by supplying sanitizers to the staff.

Food packets distributed:

The South-Central Railway in association with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation, (Irctc) and NGOs distributed 2.000 food packets to the migrant workers and inmates in old age homes on Monday as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility in Vijayawada.

The Railways selected Vijayawada station in Andhra Pradesh for cooking and serving food. The staff cooked food at the base kitchen in Vijayawada railway station and distributed 2,000 packets at YSR Colony in Jakkampudi, Budameru junction area, Gunadala area and some old age homes in Vijayawada city on Monday.

The staff neatly packed the Pulav packets in paper plates in hygienic way adhering to the quality standards of the IRCTC. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) and other staff participated in the generous and noble act. The initiative is part of the decision taken by the Indian Railways to partner with IRCTC to provide bulk cooked food with paper plates to the needy people from across the 13 locations where base kitchens of IRCTC are available.

Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, SCR complimented the dedicated teams of Railway officers and employees of Vijayawada Division who are working round the clock to ensure the essential commodities reach the needy. He particularly appreciated the IRCTC, Commercial and RPF personnel for undertaking the distribution of food packets in the needful hours.