Rlys got 652 complaints over food on premium trains: RTI
MUMBAI:THE Indian Railways has registered 652 complaints over quality of food served in premium trains operating in Maharashtra since January 2017.
A Right to Information (RTI) response revealed the complaints were registered from January 2017 to end of September 2018.The complaints were received from passengers of trains including Rajdhani Express operating between Mumbai and Delhi, August Kranti operating between Mumbai and Delhi, Tejas Express operating between Mumbai and Karmali and Goa and Duronto express trains.
Out of the 652 complaints, 323 were received in the year 2017 and 329 complaints have been registered
till September 30, 2018.
The information was revealed in an RTI query filed by RTI activist Mansoor Darvesh.
The RTI response also reveals that complaints about food served in outstation trains from western region in Maharashtra have increased drastically. While there were 1,258 complaints registered on western region trains in Maharashtra in 2017, the figure rose to 2,288 till September 2018.
The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which manages the food served in the outstation trains, has recovered more than ₹1.10 crore as fine from contractors over such complaints. While around ₹55.64 lakh was recovered in 2017, ₹54.97 lakh was recovered till September 2018.
“The quality and the quantity of the food served is worsening day by day. The railways should recover hefty penalties from the contractors and not shield them. Under RTI as well, the break up of complaints on each of the premium trains has not been provided,” said Darvesh.
Siddharth Singh, spokesperson, IRCTC, said, “In premium trains, a person has been positioned along with a device wherein any complaint received on social media can be addressed on real-time. Monitoring of base kitchens has begun and proper hygiene during making of the food is being maintained. Surprise checks in trains all over India are being held.”