Indian Railways has taken a momentous decision on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 to battle the Covid-19 pandemic.
All its production units (ICF, RCF, MCF, DLW CLW, RWF, to name a few) and its zonal railway workshops (Liluah, Parel, Manmad, Golden Rock, Bhavnagar, Hubballi to name a few) will manufacture equipment required for hospitals such as ventilators, hospital beds without mattresses, medical trolleys, IV stands, hospital footsteps, hospital bedside lockers, wash basins and stands.
Personal protective equipment (PPEs) such as masks, and sanitizers, besides water tanks and other items that require fabrication/welding and machining works will also be manufactured at these units and workshops.
The Principal Medical Directors in each railway zone / production units will be consulted on the exact items to be manufactured by the zone /production unit.
Production units and workshops have been directed to assess the feasibility of producing the items in a large scale.
Post identification of these items, they have to communicate the list of items that they are capable of producing to the Railway Board.