NewzVille Desk
The Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, today announced the RailTech Policy and the complete digitisation of the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) as Reform Number Three and Reform Number Four under Indian Railways’ flagship “52 Reforms in 52 Weeks” initiative.
The Rail Tech Policy will engage innovators, startups, industry and institutions to promote innovation in Indian Railways. The new policy simplifies the selection of innovators and introduces a dedicated “Rail Tech Portal” for innovation. Innovation challenges can be initiated by any innovator or departmental user, with a single-stage detailed submission of proposals.
The policy provides a user-friendly interface, increases the scale-up grant more than three times and doubles the maximum grant for prototype development and trials.
Key innovation areas are:
- AI-based Elephant Intrusion Detection System (EIDS)
- AI-based fire detection system in coaches
- Drone-based broken rail detection system
- Rail stress monitoring system
- Sensor-based load calculation device on parcel vans (VPUs)
- Solar panels on coaches
- AI-based coach cleaning monitoring system
- Obstruction detection in foggy environments
- AI-based pension and dispute resolution systems
Outlining the third reform, Vaishnaw said the RailTech Policy is designed to enable massive and systematic induction of technology into the Railways. He emphasised that startups, researchers and innovators must be able to connect with Indian Railways in a structured, meaningful and simplified manner. He said that anyone with a strong technological idea should be able to approach the Railways through a dedicated RailTech portal, which will function through a completely digital, end-to-end process.
Vaishnaw added that the RailTech Policy has been designed after studying successful models such as the iDEX initiative in defence, the startup frameworks in the Ministry of Electronics & IT, and telecom sector innovation policies.
In Reform Number Four, Vaishnaw announced the complete digitisation and AI-enabled transformation of the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT). The E-RCT system will enable end-to-end computerisation and digitisation of the Railway Claims Tribunal. It will transform the filing, processing and adjudication of claims by making the process faster, more transparent and accessible from anywhere in the country.
With the introduction of the e-RCT System, cases can now be filed online from anywhere at any time, significantly improving accessibility, convenience and transparency for litigants.
