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Hospitality firms to deliver food on trains

The minister made the statement while replying to questions in the Lok Sabha on the food supplied on board the trains amid complaints of poor quality.

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Aiming to improve its catering services, the Railways has decided to entrust the task of delivering food on board trains to some reputed hospitality companies. While IRCTC, the catering PSU of the Railways, will be responsible for the base kitchens, the task of delivery of food to the passengers will be given to leading companies in the hospitality sector, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Wednesday. 

The minister made the statement while replying to questions in the Lok Sabha on the food supplied on board the trains amid complaints of poor quality. It was also disclosed that the Railways, in the last one year, imposed a fine of Rs 1.8 crore, approximately in 2,108 cases related to poor quality of food. The minister informed the House that the Railways took stringent action against erring contractors. “One contract has been terminated, one is under notice for termination while 16 contractors have been blacklisted for breach of terms of contracts in the last one year,” Prabhu said.

Prabhu said clean potable water is now available across various stations at reasonable prices. During his replies, he referred to a catering contract issued in 2010, when Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was the Railways Minister. This was objected to by Trinamool Congress members, leading to heated exchanges between the members of the party and those of the BJP. Prabhu was also asked by other MPs to respond to Tuesday’s incident in Sealdah Rajdhani when some passengers complained of upset stomach after consuming food served on board. Prabhu told the House that the contract of the vendor has been terminated.

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