N. F. RAILWAY OPENS CRECHE, BOYS HOSTEL

Maligaon, 15^th June 2010: Fulfilling the promises made by honourable Railway Minister Mamata Banarjee in the Parliament during her Budget speech, the Northeast Frontier Railway inaugurated a students’ hostel and a crèche for the children of railway employees in Maligaon today. The General Manager of N. F. Railway, Shri Shiv Kumar inaugurated both the facilities in the presence of senior railway officials and a large number of other employees in the morning.

The objective of opening a students’ hostel was to provide a residential accommodation for the children of those railway employees who have been performing duties in far-flung areas of N. F. Railway and are away from adequate educational facilities. It has so far been very difficult for these employees to let their children acquire education in Guwahati unless their children get hotel accommodation in the educational institutions themselves.  The new hostel with provision for 14 rooms will go a long way in providing the children of these employees a home away from home in Guwahati. A two-storey building in the Central Railway Hospital campus in Maligaon has been renovated with all modern amenities and furniture to convert it into the hostel. Though, at present, the hostel has provision of housing only boys, depending on the response and demands, provision for housing girls may also be considered in future.

On the other hand, a crèche was set up inside the N. F. Railway headquarters in Maligaon with all necessary provisions for taking care of small children. The setting up of the crèche will largely mitigate problem faced by working mothers in railway who do not have anybody else at home to look after their children while performing their duties.