In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today, Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal informed that Indian Railways has received 278 complaints regarding the quality of food and supply of packaged drinking water in 11 months.
In his reply, the minister said that Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has engaged private contractors to provide catering facilities in special trains either through Pantry Car or Train Side Vending. For the provision of e-Catering facilities, reputed service providers have also been empanelled by IRCTC.
During the period of 1st April 2020 to 28th February, 2021 Indian Railways received 278 complaints regarding the quality of food and supply of packaged drinking water, other than Rail Neer. In 59 cases, Rs 6,97,300 fine imposed to service providers and one has terminated, he added
In his reply, the minister stated, "It is the continuous endeavour of Indian Railways to provide quality and hygienic food to the passengers as per norms and standards prescribed by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Indian Railways have taken various measures to ensure quality, hygiene and standards of food served to the passengers, which include use of CCTV Cameras in Kitchens, QR codes on food packets providing all details of the meals produced including date and time of packaging, certification from FSSAI, customer satisfaction surveys, Third-Party Audits of establishments and regular and surprise inspections by Railway officials."
"There is also a robust system of passenger grievances redressal through Integrated Helpline no. 139, Rail Madad, Twitter handle, and CPGRAMS. Indian Railways, at present, runs special trains in which only Ready to Eat food is being provided which are hygienic and governed by FSSAI standards", Goyal added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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