Railways may not continue providing blankets, pillows, towels in AC coaches even after COVID-19 ends

The practice of not serving food on trains might also remain in place for some time after the pandemic ends

Moneycontrol News

August 31, 2020 / 03:19 PM IST

Passengers may not get blankets, pillows, hand towels and sheets in the Indian Railways' air-conditioned coaches even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, The Indian Express reported, quoting senior Railway officials.

According to the newspaper, the issue was discussed during a meeting between Railway Board officials and zonal and divisional officials earlier this week.

"We are moving in that direction," a senior Railway Ministry official told the newspaper. Three top officials also confirmed this development to the newspaper.

Sources told the newspaper that a committee is being formed to take a decision on the merchandised mega laundries, which were built to wash the linen. The Railways spends, on an average, Rs 40-50 for washing each linen set with about 18 lakh linen sets in circulation at present.

The report stated that the linen sets have been a cause pf passenger complaints, with questions regarding them being raised in Parliament as well. Officials reasoned that with temperature control settings in AC coaches the need for blankets could be eliminated.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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