NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday rolled out two more reforms—the Rail Tech Policy and second phase of e-RCT (Railway Claims Tribunal) -under the government’s ‘52 Reforms in 52 Weeks’ initiative.
“If you have an idea, we have a plan. And, anyone with a strong technological idea can approach the Railways through dedicated Rail Tech Portal to enable massive and systematic induction of technology into the Railways,” Vaishnaw said while announcing the measures.
As part of the Rail Tech Policy, the minister launched the high-tech, round-the-clock Rail Tech Portal to engage start-ups, innovators and industry in addressing emerging challenges in the Railways.
“In a major push towards technology-driven governance and innovation-led transformation, the Rail Tech Policy and the complete digitisation of the RCT will facilitate big changes in railways,” he told the media.
He said the Rail Tech Portal would invite technological ideas across priority areas, as the Railways has placed strong emphasis on adopting AI-enabled and other advanced technologies in its services.
“The startups and innovations on several innovation challenges like use of drone-based broken rail detection system, rail stress monitoring system, sensor-based load calculation device on parcel vans (VPUs), installation of solar panels on coaches and others would be the most welcome and consider,” he said.
He said, “The e-RCT system will enable end-to-end computerization and digitisation of the Railway Claims Tribunal.”
Safety to get top priority
Vaishnaw said start-ups related to safety would get the highest priority, followed by those on maintenance and other challenges.
E-filing accident claims
The minister explained that 24×7 e-filing, online hearings and instant access to orders would simplify the process of filing accident and untoward incident claims, enabling litigants to submit claims online.