Travelling by Indian Railways train? Get set for a soft surprise

If you are a regular passenger on Indian  Railways trains, many times you might have found the blankets given to you made you quite uncomfortable.  That they were dirty would be the least of your worry. However, now, passengers travelling in air-conditioned coaches will get better-quality, more comfortable, soft and clean blankets. The blankets provided to Indian Railways passengers in air-conditioned coaches should be clean and free of grease, soap, filling or any other admixture,  stated a revised specifications issued by the Railway Board earlier this month. The blankets should not give fictitious mass or firmness either, it said. 

The fibre content of the blankets should be 60 per cent wool, 15 per cent nylon and the weight should be 450 gram, it added. The statement went quite a few steps further and even minutely described what else should be a part and parcel of the blanket. To quote it, "These blankets should have four side satin piping not less than 4 cm stitches per centimeter". This is quite unlike the blankets that come at present in a smaller size and weigh 2.2 kgs.

"Life of the blankets with revised specifications and increased washing frequency is reduced initially to two years," the note said, adding that this could be revised after a year. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had last year pulled up the Indian Railways for providing dirty blankets, pillow cases and sheets to passengers. Blankets are dry-cleaned once every two months at present.  However, some zonal railways wash them once in every fortnight or a month. 

However, CAG in its deposition in Parliament said the Indian Railways was not adhering to the time schedule fixed for washing and sanitation of linen and blankets.