Videos and social media posts complaining about meals served on trains regularly go viral on the web, prompting responses from IRCTC and Indian Railways. This usually results in public discussions in regards to the high quality of meals given to passengers. Recently, the Indian Railways has mandated that passengers have entry to the total menus and charges of meals served to them on trains. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke about the identical in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. He defined, “Menu of all food items along with rates are available on IRCTC’s website for information of passengers. Printed menu cards with all details are made available with waiters and presented to passengers on demand.” He added, “The rate list is also displayed in pantry cars. Further, to make the passengers aware of the menu and tariff of catering services over Indian Railways, SMS to passengers with link to menu and tariff has been started.”
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Apart from issues relating to menus and charges, questions had been posed about enhancing hygiene and elevating the general high quality of meals served on trains. In response, Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed a number of measures and processes that goal to handle these points. He cited the availability of meals from designated base kitchens, the commissioning of contemporary base kitchens at recognized places and the set up of CCTV cameras in base kitchens for higher monitoring of meals preparation, reported PTI.
Vaishnaw additionally talked about different measures. For occasion, he stated that branded elements are getting used for meals preparation, together with objects comparable to cooking oil, flour, rice, pulses, dairy merchandise, and so on. Additionally, devoted supervisors have been deployed at base kitchens to verify whether or not meals security and hygienic practices are being adopted. Trains even have IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) supervisors on board, who can instantly monitor catering providers. Furthermore, the Railways has launched QR codes on meals packets, which might additional contribute to transparency. The codes comprise particulars just like the identify of the kitchen, the date of packaging, and so on.
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“Third-party audit is done to examine hygiene and quality of food in pantry cars and base kitchens. Customer satisfaction surveys are also conducted,” Ashwini Vaishnaw stated. Along with these initiatives, the Railways has mandated common deep cleansing and periodical pest management in base kitchens and pantry automobiles. Mandatory FSSAI certification has been applied for particular personnel to implement meals security requirements. Food security and high quality are additional ensured by means of common meals sampling and inspections by authorised officers.