Aircraft-Style toilets, recycling of scrap, 80,000 jobs — Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav went full steam today on promises as he flagged off the Madurai-Hazrat Nizamuddin Tamil Nadu Sampark Kranti Express.Yadav said the Railways planned to change the design of toilets in trains, similar to those in aircrafts. He went on to admit the current toilet system was ‘‘unhygienic’’. According to the new system, waste will be offloaded at specific points to keep the tracks clean. The waste would be used to produce ‘‘bio-gas’’ which would be used by railways, he said.The Railways would also ban auctioning of scrap. ‘‘If China and Japan can recycle scrap, why can’t we? The railways will also recycle scrap and make products from them,’’ Yadav said.On the job front, he said the Railways would lift the ban on recruitment imposed by the previous NDA government and launch a special drive to fill the backlog of vacancies reserved for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe candidates. He charged the NDA government of ‘‘attempting to eliminate the reservation policy’’ and claimed that it had not only put a freeze on recruitment but also cut staff strength. ‘‘Now that Laloo Prasad is in charge of Railways, SC/ST posts will be filled up,’’ he said, adding that all 84,000 group ‘D’ vacancies in the Railways will be filled. Vacancies in Railway Protection Force will be filled and the IGs, DIGs and SPs will be asked to recruit eligible candidates for the force, he said. Steps would be taken to fill up more than 80,000 vacancies, he said.The minister also hit back against critics on the decision to introduce kulhads and khadi products on trains. The move had ensured employment to lakhs in villages, he said. The Congress-led Government at the Centre had vowed to make railways ‘‘a world class body,’’ he said. The Planning Commission had sanctioned Rs 1,100 crore for modernising Railways and improving safety, he said.Lauding Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and PMK founder Ramadoss, he gave credit to the people of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal for ‘‘dumping casteist forces in the bin and effecting a change in the Government’’. ‘‘We are committed to social justice and communal harmony. The social justice movement began from Chennai,’’ he said. He lauded the Madurai Division, saying it is ‘‘A class’’ and announced an on-the-spot cash award of Rs 1 lakh to the division for ‘‘cleanliness’’. And Hindi it is
