Sealdah food court shuts shop

KOLKATA: Thousands of passengers from Sealdah, hoping to grab a bite at Comesum - the multi-cuisine food plaza set up at the station nine years ago, have been left in the lurch for the last couple of months.
The food plaza downed shutters after Comesum Restaurant Pvt Ltd refused to renew its licence. IRCTC has started a fresh tendering process to engage a new licensee and hopes to restart the outlet in next two months.Though the Jan Ahaar outlet is still operational at Sealdah, it doesn't serve the kind of food that the food plaza once did. Jan Ahaar primarily serves thali meals while the food plaza had everything from biryanis to parathas, several curries, sandwiches and sweets. The decision by Comesum to pull out has come as a surprise, even for IRCTC officials.
“We realise that people are inconvenienced. Even we were taken by surprise. Till the food plaza reopens, we plan to sell some food items like biryani from the same spot. This will start in the next few days. We hope to get a new licensee in the next two months," said Debashis Chandra, group general manager (east), IRCTC.
According to him, a licensee is under contract to operate the food plaza for nine years. After this, the company is offered an extension of three more years. Comesum refused this extension for reasons unknown to IRCTC. Officials don't believe that profit was an issue as the food plaza was quite popular. Trouble between IRCTC and R K Associates and its group companies over the last several months may have been a reason for this withdrawal, an official suggested.
The promoters of R K Associates and Comesum are the same. In 2015, based on a complaint by the IRCTC, CBI initiated a case against R K Associates as well as some Railway Board officials. The charges were that these companies had entered into an unholy nexus with the officials to bag on-board catering contracts on trains. R K Associates and its group companies handle on-board catering on the largest number of trains in India. Under new rules, IRCTC will be in sole charge of issuing catering licenses and railway zones will have no say in the matter.
“It was a company decision. I don't have any clue about why this outlet was closed down," said Hemant Agrawal, the person who was in charge of Comesum, Sealdah.