Lizard in rly food: Ministry cancels caterer’s contract
VARANASI: A dead lizard was found in veg biryani served to a passenger onboard Delhi-bound Poorva Express on Howrah-Delhi route on Tuesday evening.
The shocked passenger lodged a complaint with the ticket collector and also tweeted to railway minister Suresh Prabhu.
Taking a note of the incident, the railway ministry cancelled the caterer’s contract and directed divisional railway manager (DRM), Mughalsarai division, Kishore Kumar to look into the matter.
“In view of the railway’s zero tolerance policy towards poor quality and overcharging of food, the railway administration has terminated the contract of the catering contractor, RK Associates, for the Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express,” railway ministry spokesperson A K Saxena told PTI.
SK Singh, an advocate at the Allahabad high court, boarded the train from Jasidih in Jharkhand for Tundla near Agra and occupied his berth in H-1 compartment. Later, he placed an order for veg biryani. When he opened the pack near Mokama station in Bihar, he found a dead lizard in the packet.
He immediately called the pantry staff and the TTE and lodged a complaint.
Singh said he started feeling unwell soon after he had eaten the biryani, but claimed he was not given adequate medical treatment for eight hours.
He underwent a health check-up in Patna, Buxar and then again at Mughalsarai in UP, where senior rail officers were also present, officials said.
The incident comes days after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India slammed the railways for serving food that was found to be contaminated and passed expiry date.
The report said the food served in trains was unfit for human consumption and fungal growth, rats and cockroaches were found in the pantry cars of even premier trains. (With PTI inputs)