16 Railway Caterers’ Contracts Terminated For Poor-Quality Food, Overcharging

The Indian Railways has terminated contracts of 16 caterers on complaints of overcharging and for serving poor-quality food to passengers in the last financial year, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said in the Rajya Sabha today.

Zero tolerance policy

The minister was referring to a viral video of vendors coming out of a toilet with a tea can in a Charminar Express in May and said that while there was no evidence that toilet water was used to make beverages, the ministry had taken strict action against the caterer involved.

Gohain said that in the fiscal year 2017-18, 16 catering contracts were terminated and a penalty of Rs.4.87 crore were imposed for various lapses in catering services, which included poor quality and hygiene, according to reports from The India Express. He also added that a zero-tolerance policy towards such practices were being followed.

“Regular inspections”

“In its endeavour to provide quality and hygienic food to the passengers, Indian Railways have developed and operationalised an institutionalised mechanism for monitoring of quality and hygiene of catering services through regular inspections at various levels to address catering complaints,” Rajen Gohain said according to the publication.