Student take Central Railway to Lok Adalat and win

The damaged tiles at Pune Junction Railway Station and The broken chairs were among the damaged facilities at the station

Three Pune-based law students who took the Central Railway's Pune division to the Permanent Lok Adalat over the unhygienic premises of Pune railway station, have won their fight. The railways have been ordered to clean up the station premises at the earliest. The students, Devaangini Telang, 20, Shruti Topkar, 20, and Nikhil Joglekar, 23, are pursuing law from the Marathwada Mitra Mandal's Shankarrao Chavan Law College.

The railways have now been ordered to provide enough toilets on every platform and maintain cleanliness and safety on a regular basis. Lok Adalat Chairman Sudhir J Kale also directed that the platform, railway tracks and foot overbridges be kept clean.

The filthy tracks at Pune Junction Railway Station

They three students - Telang, Topkar and Joglekar - were inconvenienced several times by the severe lack of cleanliness at Pune Junction Railway Station. In September 2018 they filed a petition with the help of Advocate Asim Sarode, a human rights activist. Kale and other members of the Permanent Lok Adalat, Ravikumar Bidkar and Pramod Bansode, presided over the matter, and on February 8 this year, the terms of settlement were issued. The terms stated that the station premises would have to be cleaned-up and broken items repaired at the earliest.

Why petition
Devaangini said, "The toilets were not maintained well. The tiles in some were broken, the taps were not functioning. In some toilets, the light fixtures were missing and where they were installed, they weren't functioning. The number of toilets was insufficient. Toilets for physically challenged people were often found locked. Garbage was thrown near the drinking water taps as well as on the station premises. Wood and rusted iron planks were lying around on the platform causing an obstruction." Nikhil said, "Utilities for the public were found in unsatisfactory condition. We spoke to the authorities but did not get satisfactory replies. That's why we moved the petition."

Terms of settlement
Chairman Kale has directed the railway authority to take appropriate action at the earliest. Nitin Shinde, the Chief Health Inspector of Pune Railway, who was summoned by the Adalat, said, "We have renovated the electrical wiring. The toilets are also kept clean. We also acted against those spitting on the railway station premises or those who vandalised it."

What are Permanent Lok Adalats
Permanent Lok Adalats have been formed under Section 22-B of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. They have a chairman and two members and provide a compulsory pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to public utility services such as transport, post, telegraph, etc.

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