Writing on the wall: pantry menu in compartments

58 quality control professionals from hospitality industry recruited for supervision on trains

Passengers travelling by the Indian Railways will now have more to choose from than just the regular 8220;vegetarian and non-vegetarian8221; meals served from the pantry cars.

The new menu put together by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation IRCTC Ltd promises passengers more 8220;quality and quantity8221; than ever before. And with the food menu pasted on the walls of the compartment, passengers will not have to wait for the pantry attendant to know what8217;s cooking.

The menu, besides 8220;indicating the food items being served8221;, will mention the quantity and selling price of the food items, and telephone numbers where they can register their complaints and suggestions round-the-clock.

In an affidavit filed by the catering corporation before a Bench led by Delhi High Court Chief Justice M K Sharma on Wednesday, the menu sticker is the 8220;end-product8221; of 12,827 inspections done by quality inspectors and 8220;substantial fines8221; on private licence holders for deficiencies. 8220;There are 367 cases of fines registered from April 2006 to February 2007. Five major catering contracts have also been terminated,8221; said the IRCTC.

Detailing the working of the grievance redressal mechanism, the corporation said on receiving a complaint from a passenger traveling on a train, the zonal call centre will 8220;immediately8221; initiate an enquiry in co-ordination with the catering licensee and quality control officials.

The germ of the idea of a 8220;revised8221; menu was sourced from the Terms of Reference of a high-powered panel comprising Chief Commercial Managers of the Northern, Southern and Central Railways. 8220;The terms suggest rotation of menu and multi menu, parallel diet menu, diabetics8217; menu for meals served in Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains and other mails and trains,8221; the affidavit read. The IRCTC also submitted that 58 quality control professionals holding diplomas and degrees in hospitality and with minimum two years8217; experience have been recruited for supervision on specific trains.

Submitting it was strictly abiding by the Catering Policy 2005 framed by the Centre, the IRCTC said efforts were on to 8220;improve, upgrade, modernise and professionalise catering services in the Indian Railways8221;.

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The submissions were part of a PIL filed by advocate Varun Goswami, highlighting the lack of hygiene and quality of service in pantry cars and base kitchens located at railway stations.

Disposing the PIL, the Bench said that the railway should look into a complete revamp of base kitchens at the New Delhi Railway Station. Moreover, a court-appointed panel would continue random inspections at railway kitchens and pantry cars as per the order of the Bench.