India’s rag pickers keep rail tracks clean

Published: Aug. 23, 2007 at 2:39 AM

NEW DELHI, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- India’s railways may have the answer to helping the poor who pick rags and litter for a living -- outsource the job of keeping the tracks clean to them.

The railway system, one of the largest in the world, has become a highly profitable state-run enterprise in recent years through its innovative ways of improving efficiency and service.

In its latest plan, the railways will hand over the track-cleaning work to the so-called rag pickers, the Press Trust of India reported Thursday. The new crews, who will earn daily wages, will be in charge of cleanup operations along rail tracks, especially at stations, where littering has become a major problem.

All senior railway officials throughout the country have been told to hire itinerant workers through contractors, the report said.

"While we have initiated steps to ensure cleanliness at railway stations, waiting halls and passenger trains, the cleanliness drive has been extended on the tracks also," one official was quoted as saying.

© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
COL BKB: Georgetown 97, Lafayette 64 (11 min)
McIlroy/McDowell lead dwindles in China (18 min)
Gold coin found in Ill. Christmas kettle (23 min)
Big public holiday parties out this year (53 min)
Artist documents decade of his life
Woods's wife allegedly assaulted him
UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News
fark
Hero: Danvers HS students want to sell "Free Meep" shirts to raise money for scholarship. Asinine:...
In the never-ending quest by the government to encourage everyone buy new stuff, comes "Cash for...
It was Mrs. Woods, in the driveway, with the golf club
Can you be blamed for sleepwalking crimes? It's not news, it's fearmongeri...er...ABC News
They took away radio traffic reporters' airplanes, and now they're taking away their radio too
The majority of working mothers say they would prefer to work part-time. Only 21 percent of working...