Gandhi Jayanthi Proposed To Be Celebrated With Veg-Only Meals: Indian Railways

As a celebration of the 150^th anniversary of Gandhi Jayanthi, the Indian Railways has come up with a proposal to celebrate the occasion as a ‘vegetarian day’ for the next three consecutive years. The proposal states that no non-vegetarian food will be served to passengers anywhere on its premises on October 2^nd.

“October 2, 2018, 2019, 2020 can be celebrated as a totally vegetarian day when no non-vegetarian food will be served anywhere on Indian Railways’ premises. All the railway staff will be requested to observe October 2 as Vegetarian Day” is what has been mentioned in a circular by the Railway Board that was sent last month to all the railway zones. The approval of the proposal would mean that October 2^nd would be celebrated as both  Rashtriya Swachhta Diwas and as “vegetarian day”.

The approval needs to be from the Ministry of Culture, which is the coordinating body for all events related to the 150th anniversary of Gandhi Jayanti. The proposal for veg-only meals is to highlight the fact that Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most-famous ambassadors for vegetarianism in the country. The proposal, if approved, will prohibit non-vegetarian foods on trains and train stations all over the country for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Apart from the veg-only meals, Railways plans to run a ‘special salt rake’ from Sabarmati on March 12 to commemorate the Dandi March and ‘swachhata express’ trains from Sabarmati to the other stations connected with Gandhi. Also, tickets will be issued with a watermark of Mahatma Gandhi’s image.

President Ram Nath Kovind chaired the first meeting of the National Committee for the Commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi earlier this month. We’ll have to wait to know whether the railway’s mega plans for Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations get approved or not.