If everything goes according to the plan, Ranchi railway station will have a medicine-cum-departmental shop by the end of March.
The facility, for which tender was floated on Tuesday to invite bidders willing to set up and run the shop, is likely to come up near the main entrance on the platform No. 1.
Railway officials said the shop would stock medicines that could be bought without prescriptions, apart from articles of daily use.
"We have been flooded with tweets and posts on various social networking sites from people, asking about availability of various facilities at the Ranchi station. There have always been a lot of queries about availability of medicines and daily use items, which gave us the idea. So, we decided to set up a medicine shop that will stock analgesic, paracetamol, cold suppressant, ointments for headache and body pains, balms etc. It will also sell diapers, sanitary napkins and toiletries," said an official at the capital station.
Deepak Kashyap, divisional railway manager, Ranchi, said: "We have identified a site for departmental/medicine store close to the main entrance. We hope to finalise an agency to run it very soon and make the facility available to passengers by March-end."
Senior divisional commercial manager of Ranchi Neeraj Kumar said the proposed medicine shop was a part of the railways' continuous efforts to improve passenger amenities. "Currently, we have ATM counters, sweet and food shops and book stalls at the station. The medicine shop will be of great help for passengers. The station is being slowly upgraded with facilities, depending upon passengers' needs and sustainability," he added.
Asked whether the facility would be extended to other stations of the Ranchi division too, Kumar said: "Right now, the facility will be available only at Ranchi station."
However, the railways have planned to set toilets at E-grade stations of the division. "We have around 32 small stations (E-grade) like Namkum, Tatisilwai, which do not have toilets. So we have started construction and by the end of March, all these stations will have toilets," he added.