Various Measures taken by Indian Railways to Ensure Quality, Hygiene and Standards of Food served to Passengers
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 (FSSAI). Indian Railways have taken various measures to ensure quality, hygiene and standards of food served to the passengers, which include use of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras in Kitchens, Quick Response (QR) codes on food packets providing all details of the meals produced including date and time of packaging, certification from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (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 (RTE) food is being provided which is hygienic and governed by FSSAI standards.
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 provision of e-Catering facilities, reputed service providers have also been empanelled by IRCTC.
The details of complaints received from 01-04-2020 to 28-02-2021 by Indian Railways regarding quality of food and supply of packaged drinking water, other than Rail Neer, along with the action taken against them are as under:
|
Head
|
Total No. of complaints
|
Action Taken
|
|
Fined
|
Warned
|
Termination
|
Suitably Advised
|
Not Substantiated
|
D & AR Action
|
Any Other
|
Total
|
|
No. of Cases
|
Fine imposed (Rs.)
|
|
Quality of Food
|
236
|
42
|
5,48,300
|
76
|
1
|
73
|
27
|
0
|
17
|
236
|
|
Packaged Drinking Water other than Rail Neer
|
42
|
17
|
1,49,000
|
7
|
0
|
8
|
6
|
0
|
4
|
42
|
|
Total
|
278
|
59
|
6,97,300
|
83
|
1
|
81
|
33
|
0
|
21
|
278
|
This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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DJN/MKV