Today's Cancelled Trains
IRCTC gets back to catering after seven years; base kitchens to be set up
BENGALURU: Bowing to mounting complaints from train passengers over deteriorating quality of food, the Railway Board has now decided to hand over catering operations in trains to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The corporation is now getting back its core activity after seven years.
Speaking to Express, top IRCTC officials said that the food quality is bound to improve after this move. The policy released by the Railway Ministry on February 27 calls upon the corporation to set up base kitchens at railway stations to ensure that food is served fresh and hot.
“We have been asked to submit our business model within one month. We are now in the process of finalising the stations where the base kitchens will come up,” said a top official. A high-level meeting is being held at New Delhi to thrash out the details.
Another official said that as per the policy, the base kitchens need to be in place within 6 months. “It is a time-consuming process since Railways has to allot us space inside stations and all the infrastructure for kitchens need to be built,” he said.
But how exactly will this move impact passenger? “Presently, contractors hired by Indian Railways who are in charge of catering supply food from pantry cars. Private parties are bound to cut corners to make profits. Buying cheaper commodities for preparing food is just one of them,” said the official. He added, “Being a PSU (public sector unit), I can assure you, we will not have any such compulsions.”
Asked about the reason for the shift in policy, the IRCTC official said, “Social media and easy access to the Railway Minister played a big role. Unhappy customers kept tweeting to the Railway Minister.” The Ministry was flooded with complaints on the quality of food and delivery.
It was also decided that Railways needs to focus on its core business - running of trains.
Source:Indian Express
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