The Tiruchi railway junction and three other stations falling under the limits of the Tiruchi Railway Division have been certified as “Eat Right Station” by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for providing safe food to travellers and adhering to hygiene practices. The other three stations are Thanjavur, Kumbakonam and Mayiladuthurai.
The certification for the four major stations was issued by the FSSAI to the Southern Railway Additional General Manager at Chennai a few days ago. The “Eat Right Station” certification by the FSSAI, coming under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, is valid for two years.
The Eat Right Railway Station is one of the initiatives under the Eat Right India movement led by the FSSAI. Under this initiative, all food vendors at the railway stations - organised catering units/ restaurants / food courts as well as small vendors and retail outlets are targeted to ensure that they follow safe cooking and handling practices during preparation and serving of food to the passengers, railway officials and staff.
Ahead of the issuance of the certification, an internal audit was conducted at the four stations a few months ago by the FSSAI which trained the food handlers at the designated stations under the FoSTaC (Food Safety Training and Certification) programme. This was followed by a third party audit based on a detailed checklist to determine that the food vendors at the four stations adhered to safe cooking during preparation and while serving them to passengers besides following hygiene practices, said railway sources.
Inspection of the stalls, dining unit, drinking water and drainage system also formed part of the audit, the sources said adding that the Eat Right Station certification was issued as per guidelines established by the FSSAI. The certificate also contains the names of the Auditing Partner and the Training Partner.
The Tiruchi railway junction topped in respect of passenger earnings and in handling passengers in Tiruchi railway division during the 2022-2023 financial year. The station handled over 70 lakh passengers in 2022-2023 fiscal with its earnings exceeding ₹ 140 crore. Thanjavur railway junction had handled over 36 lakh passengers and earned a little over ₹ 43 crore in the same period.
