Mumbai: After passenger complaints and protests about bad food on the Sealdah Rajdhani Express, and a termination notice being served to the caterer, the food on other Rajdhani trains is now under the scanner. There have been a number of complaints, for instance, about the food on the Mumbai–Delhi Rajdhani Expres.
Deepak Mevawala, who travelled recently between Mumbai and Surat on the train, said, “I paid ₹1,100 for the food and the quality was so bad that I thought to take back my money.” Another passenger, Naveen Agrawal, said, “The quality of the food in Rajdhani trains should be A-grade, but it is not up to the mark. Even after paying dynamic fares, we get such food. This is sad.”
When The Hindu asked Western Railway (WR) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) officials about the complaints, each attempted to shift blame to the other.
A senior WR official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that there have been thousands of complaints from passengers in writing and via social networking sites. “Every day we receive complaints on Twitter about the bad quality of food served in Rajdhani and August Kranti trains, and stale and cold food.” He said that while the food was prepared in WR kitchens, the serving was done by the IRCTC. “They must be delaying the serving of foods to passengers,” he said, “and if some packets are left from one shift, they must be using the same in the next trip.” He alleged the reason for poor service is that IRCTC has a high rate of attrition among its catering staff: “By the time, [new] staff learns about rules,they leave the job and new staff are appointed.”
He added, “We are trying to solve individual complaints but as per railway policy, we cannot interfere much with how the IRCTC works.” He said that the Railways had written to the IRCTC asking them to “improve the services in such prestigious trains.”
Arvind Malkhede, Group General Manager, IRCTC, said, “I have not seen any complaints related to food served on Rajdhani or August Kranti trains. The kitchens are owned by the Railways and we only do the serving job.” According to the IRCTC, they have served nearly five lakh meals in the last four months and there have been hardly 300 complaints. “Different types of passengers travel in the trains, and each one of them has different tastes. It’s obvious that there would be few complaints.”
