Food in Railways - Issues, Root Causes, Solutions

Dear Friends,

Below are the issues, root causes and solutions as identified by you with respect to Food in Indian Railways.

Kindly review them and if anything of importance is missing , please add. We are in the process of finalizing the whitepaper and will soon submit it to the Railways Ministry for action.

Thanks for your participation!

Rajendra Pratap Gupta
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Food in Indian Railways

Issues identified:
1. Oil used in food is smelly
2. Pantry car is in a very unhygienic condition
3. Food is served cold
4. Chapatis are under-cooked
5. Tea bags are sub-standard
6. Water bottles served with broken seals
7. Presentation is bad – trays are wet and dirty
8. Pantry boys don’t wear a uniform or gloves
9. Trains like Shatabdi and Rajdhani also serve sub-quality food
10. Utensils used are dirty
11. No proper place for food storage. Food trays kept on the floor
12. No way to provide feedback on food

Root causes identified:
1. Catering services are outsourced, no system for quality check
2. Contracts are usually taken by small time vendors/ businessmen who want to make maximum money during contact period
3. Food is prepared and served by novices
4. No background check while choosing vendors
5. No sense of responsibility - they use substandard food ingredients to save more & more money
6. There is a corrupt nexus between the vendors and the officials
7. Mistakes of the food contractors and pantry boys are overlooked
8. Pantry boys fill the bottles with tap water and make money on them
9. Contractors not fined in case they don’t meet the required standards
10. No supervisor appointed to oversee the pantry operations
11. Pantry boys not educated on self -hygiene
12. Visitor entry allowed via pantry to different coaches – brings more dirt to the pantry car
13. Insufficient facilities to preserve huge quantity foods

Solutions identified:
1. Standard dispensing machine should be installed for items like milk, cornflakes, coffee, tea etc.
2. Passengers should be able to pre-order from a fixed menu
3. Tough quality checks should be put in place for selecting food vendors
4. Menu cards and price list is to be displayed in the coaches
5. Food contractor's name and contact number, along with the concerned IRCTC
6. Supervisor's name and contact number are to be displayed in each bogie
7. The serving boys should necessarily wear a clean uniform and identity cards
8. Pantry boys should be trained on maintaining hygiene and cleanliness
9. CCTV should be installed in the pantry cars
10. The unauthorised vendors should not be allowed to enter the platforms
11. Regular surprise quality checks of the pantry should be done by senior officials
12. High penalty should be imposed on defaulter contractors
13. Contracts should be given to big and established vendors
14. An effective feedback mechanism should be set up
15. Railway officer must take action on any complaint within specified period of time
16. Pantry coach should be redesigned with modern facilities and amenities
17. Engaging Local Self Help Groups or NGOs for food outsourcing can improve the situation more