Rly launches 'baby berths' for passengers travelling with kids
New Delhi(PTI): To make train journey more comfortable for passengers travelling with infants, the railways has fitted foldable "baby berths" on the side of lower main berths of the Lucknow Mail as part of a pilot project.
Based on the feedback of passengers on the "new product", plans will be drawn to expand the concept to other trains, officials said.
The "baby berth", which are hinged to the lower main berths, can be folded and secured with a stopper when not in use. It has been is aligned the main berth.
On the Lucknow Mail, two "baby berths" of 770 mm in length, 255 mm in width and 76.2 mm in height were fitted to 12 and 60 main berths of the second cabins on both ends of coaches on April 27.
"This has been done on a trial basis and will be expanded once we get positive feedback from passengers. Once we try it out more and record the feedbacks, we will put the necessary details on CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems) where it can be booked on request," an official of the Northern Railway said.
"The (booking) system will be like the one we currently use to offer senior citizens lower berths. So, once, a passenger says yes to travelling with a child, we will offer the berth to them. However, it is now at a nascent stage," the official said.
Currently, there is no mechanism to book the lower berth for women who are travelling with infants.
On Mother's Day, Lucknow Divn of N.Rly. introduced a baby berth on experimental basis in Coach No.194129/B4, berth No 12 & 60. This will facilitate mothers travelling with their babies.
— Northern Railway (@RailwayNorthern) May 9, 2022
The fitted baby seat is foldable & secured with a stopper. @AshwiniVaishnaw @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/4jNEtchuVh
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
