New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) Baby feeding rooms are provided at major railway stations in order to ensure privacy to nursing mothers, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

“Baby feeding rooms are available at 423 railway stations across the country, including 11 stations over Telangana state," he added.

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Ravichandra Vaddiraju, a Bharat Rashtra Samithi MP from Telangana raised the issue and asked, “the current status of Shishu Aahar Kaksh (baby feeding rooms) available at railway stations across the country including Telangana” and “the data on the number of such facilities, their usage, and the States with the highest demand.”

Vaddiraju also wanted to know the steps taken by the Railway Ministry to ensure proper maintenance, cleanliness, and safety of these rooms for mothers and infants.

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“Zonal Railways ensure proper maintenance and cleanliness of the Shishu Aahar Kaksh at stations. Periodic inspections are also conducted to maintain a comfortable and safe environment for mothers and infants at stations,” Vaishnaw said.

“However, provision of passenger amenities at railway stations in Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process depending upon need, volume of the passenger traffic and inter-se priority of works, subject to availability of funds,” he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)