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SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA, JAIPUR JUNE 29, 2008
TIMES CITY
Upgradation the buzz word at city rly station Little To Boast About Jaipur Station’s A-1 Status, Rail Authorities Preparing A Master Plan To End Commuters’ Woes Arvind Sharma
ber. Despite repeated complaints, the number was not changed by the authorities, Jaipur: Unclean platforms, causing immense inconvenlack of drinking water or ience to the commuters. wash rooms facilities, display Not only this, the elecmonitors providing incorrect tronic display of trains information, beggars roam- showed incorrect arrival and ing around freely and stray departure timings, sometimes dogs running around: it comes even when the trains leave the as a surprise when railway au- station for next destination, thorities try to take pride the display board showed the claiming that the Jaipur rail- train is arriving shortly. way station falls in A-1 cateAlso, there are reports suggory of stations. gesting that rag-pickers colHowever, this scenario at lect used mineral water botthe Jaipur railway station sug- tles from the dump and refill gests that almost everything them with tap water for sellthere seems to need special at- ing it back to the commuters. tention. And, this is not just The passage to the present adrestricted to basic amenities. ministrative building from the Usually, only eight of the 18 railway station goes via a ticket counters are found open garbage dump where stray anat the reservation office at a imals scare commuters. given point of Speaking time. about the probMost of the According lems, a Northplatforms are to official Western Rails o u r c e s , way (NWR) occupied by parcels around 50,000 spokesman and commercial commuters said that the goods, due to which board the process to upcommuters trains from grade the faJaipur railway cilities has alincluding senior station every ready started citizens, women day. Most of and soon a and physicallythe platforms master plan are occupied would be prechallenged have by parcels and pared in this a lot of trouble commercial regard. goods, due to He also which commuters including said that most of the grievsenior citizens, women and ances would be solved once physically-challenged have a the new set-up comes into belot of trouble in boarding ing. The construction of the trains. new building at Jawahar CirSavita Kumari, a senior cit- cle is already underway. izen, said that hoards of goods On the issue of people dekeep lying at the entrance of manding stoppages, he said compartments due to which that after the protest by the they face problems in getting commuters, the railway auinto the coach. When con- thority has decided to extend tacted, railway officials said the stoppages of trains on the goods were deboarded Jaipur-Ajmer route at Hirfrom the parcel coach and nauda, Jobner and Kanakpushifted to the other location ra for three more months. after some time, so the comTalking about the loss the muters might have to face railways had to suffer due to some problems during this Gujjar agitation, he said that period. NWR lost out Rs 18 crore, out Another commuter Shah- of which Rs 5 crore was in baz Khan said that he was to form of refunds while reboard North-East Express but maining was on earnings. the train chart installed at the Some 537 trains were canreservation office had wrong- celled while 56 were diverted ly mentioned the train num- during the agitation. Rao Jaswant Singh & Anindo Dey | TNN
Railway forces pull up socks TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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ith Jaipur being identified among one of the 23 worldclass railway stations, security agencies like Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) have pulled up their socks in order to make the commuters feel safe. After detection of several incidents of ticketless travelling, rooftop travelling and other such offences during past two months, RPF has launched a drive and arrested 100 persons for smoking at railway station and 65 for rooftop travelling. RPF incharge B K Gaur said that they have collected Rs 54,000 as penalty from the offenders and those who failed to cough up the fine were sent to jail. He also said that there have been around 15 cases in which offenders were involved in theft of booked property and railway-owned property. “We have also established passenger assistance booth to help foreign tourists and local commuters,” he added. Not only this, RPF has increased escort in identified trains including Ashram Express, Haridwar-Ahmedabad Mail, Pooja Express, New Bhuj-Bareli Express and others. GRP official said that two Japanese tourists were found in unconscious state from the SiyaldahJaipur express. After recovering, the duo revealed that they were looted near Agra while on way to Jaipur. NWR spokesman said that mobile units of RPF have been established in few identified trains so as to check the crime incidents in moving trains.
Makeover begins next year at Jaipur station TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Jaipur: In a bid to keep pace with changing times, the hunt for a consultant has already begun to draw up a master plan to turn the Jaipur railway station into a world class one. This comes following the promise made by railway minister Lalu Prasad in his budget speech of constructing 23 world class station in the country in a phased manner. “We have just begun the process of searching a consultant for the project. The pressure on the railways is increasing every year in terms
of traffic. The move aims at turning the station into one that can take care of the increased traffic for the next 10 to 15 years,” said chief public relation officer KL Enkhia. In his budget speech this year Lalu had promised to develop railway stations across the country in a phased manner. The railway ministry for this upgradation is expected to go in for the public private partnership model. The first station to be upgraded under this will be the New Delhi railway station and will be followed by the Mumbai- CST and Secunderabad stations. The upgra-
dation of the Jaipur railway station is scheduled in the next phase and would be taken up probably next year. Enkhia said that the number of platforms at Jaipur railway station, which is presently seven, would be doubled during the process. The number of trains would also be increased, along with the number of washing lines and waiting rooms. Other railway stations like Kishangarh, Gandhinagar, Sikar have also been identified for upgradation of facilities. The six-storey railway headquarters worth Rs 38.89 crore on a sprawling 42706 square
meter area is under construction at the Jawahar Circle. The building will have 224 official chambers and 30 halls. According to Enkhia, “the current Jaipur railway station may soon prove inadequate to handle the ever increasing traffic of trains, passengers and goods rail.” Currently, the station handles 50,000 commuters per day and in the next few years the number of commuters will increase three to four times. But as the station is located in the centre of the city, it may face the problem of being landlocked from all the sides.
“Infact, the railways will offer such packages which will enable the investor to use the air space above the station on the railway land. In other words these model railway stations may be three or four stories high and will include space for shopping, etc,” he said. “The area where the railway office is located at present will also be taken away during the project to make way for new tracks. But I am afraid that even all this land may not be sufficient. We may have to ask for extra land from the state government somewhere else,” he said.
The graphic of the under-construction building of the North-western Railway headquarters
A school that runs on Gandhian principles P J Joychen | TNN
Udaipur: Here is a school where Gandhiji’s ideas of education seek relevance in contemporary context. The concept is known as ‘Bhuniyadi Shiksha’ or basic education where children lap up some extra special skills along with their academic learning. Buoyed by the success, the Vidya Bhawan Society which manages the school plans to establish a BEd college on the same lines. The Vidya Bhawan School was established in 1941 at Ramgiri in Udaipur, about seven kilometres away from the city. It was one of the first education schools to be started and one of the very few that have continue to seek relevance in Gandhiji’s philosophy of education. It was inaugurated by none other than the first
Students at the food-processing unit
union education minister Zakeer Hussain. Located on a sprawling campus of 80 bighas land on the Gogunda road, the school has around 500 children from the neighbouring 15 villages. Sudha Bhandari, the principal of the school, said it was a primary school till 1986 and was upgraded to higher secondary school in 1987. The school teaches latest practices in agriculture like dry farming to computers. The school looks like a technical institute with a full fledged computer lab, a food-processing unit, workshop for carpentry, electric repairing unit, handicraft and science lab. “As most of the children belong to rural background, emphasis is laid on agriculture and allied activities, ”said Bhandari. The principal said the school has a foodprocessing unit which helps the students to
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produce value added products like sauce, squash, sherbat, achar etc form their agriculture produce. The school also provides training in mechanical skills like two wheeler repairing, poultry, dairy etc. Patron of the school and former foreign secretary Jagat Mehta says “the aim is to sustain the students’ interest in ecology and environment while at the same time instill respect for all kinds of work”. Besides, it would help them find a livelihood even if they do not get an opportunity for white collar jobs. The school also runs a project to make handmade paper from recycled waste paper with financial support from Ratan Tata Foundation. The school also excels in academics. Out of the 38 students who appeared for class VIII exam, 37 passed with first division, said the principal.
Edufest 2008 inaugurated TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Jaipur: Kalicharan Saraf, the education minister, inaugurated the two day education and career exhibition ‘Edufest 2008’ at the BM Birla Auditorium on Saturday. The event has been organised by The Times of India and BMIT to benefit all those who are exploring career opportunities for a brighter future. “Such events are necessary for the growth of an individual as well as the state. Students get an opportunity to clear their doubts and queries related to their career. They receive proper guidance by eminent academicians and counsellor under one roof about various career options,” said Saraf. The first day of the event witnessed a large number of students and parents who were there to collect valuable information about various eminent universities, institutes and career opportunities. Detailed information about each career option right from engineering, aviation, fashion, information technology, management, medicine, multimedia and fine arts was provided to the students. Presence of various career and job consultants helped the students by providing them proper guidance and career related counselling. Various financial institutions offering educational loans have also participated in the fest and this has made it easy for the students who want to know about the loan procedure for higher studies. “There has been a tremen-
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Education minister Kalicharan Saraf inaugurates Edufest 2008
dous change in the field of education across the globe. Such fairs help students in selecting the right career option and keeps them in tune with the changing educational scenario,” said Vinay Sharma, a student who visited the fair. Several working professionals too showed keen interest in exploring various career opportunities through e-learning, vocational training programmes and distant learning programmes offered by various national and international centres.