 "Welcome drinks, ITC catering: Railway's food is about to get a whole lot better")
Plagued by complaints over the quality of food being served on trains, railways has decided to change the menu in its premier trains and is also set to introduce third-party audit of the catering service.
In order to provide value to passengers in the different regions, popular items from the north, south, east and western parts of the country will be introduced in the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains, said a senior railway official.
Passengers will also be given the option of going for pre- cooked food of reputed brands on the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains, the official said, adding that the reputed brands will be introduced with the approval of the zonal railways.
Welcome drinks will be served to all passengers in the AC classes, as per the revised menu. There will also be a provision for sugar-free meals for diabetic passengers.
According to _ IBNLive,_Haldirams will supply food in the Karnataka Express and Paschim Express, which will be vegetarian. For the Bangalore-Ahmedabad Express, ITC will supply both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.Godrej, Vadilal and Tysen Food are also interested in catering for the Railways. The government is considering allowing them to cater other trains after 15 days.
There will also be third-party audit of the catering service to examine the quality of food, hygiene and cleanliness in the pantry car and base kitchen, which will be carried out alongside the in-house audit, said the official.
Pantry cars will have complaint/suggestion books for passenger feedback, the official said.
The news comes afterthe Railways has imposed heavy fines totalling Rs 11.50 lakh on nine caterers including IRCTC for serving “bad quality” food in trains.Besides Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), RK Associates, Sunshine Caterers, Satyam Caterers, Brandavan Food Products were among those fined.
While in some trains food was found to be kept in unhygienic conditions, in others it was either found to be stale or substandard, the official said, adding, fines ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh have been imposed.
With inputs from PTI
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