It refers to rail-staff caught on camera filling water from rail-toilets to cook food in pantry cars. Earlier there have been a lot of complaints regarding food served in trains being prepared in most unhygienic conditions. All this can and should be practically checked by selling only packaged food-items in multiple choices to the rail-passengers by paying some nominal sale-commission to the serving staff, rather than including the cost of cooked food served in trains compulsorily in ticket costs. There is a sizable number of passengers who have peculiar choices of food like without onion and garlic. There are diabetic patients who cannot consume sweets served in paid food are unnecessarily paying for these.
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) should increase its scope by setting up a big bakery and other manufacturing units for various kind of food-variety in different parts of the country where packaged food items for sale in trains may be prepared. Till such a plan is implemented packaged food-items prepared by reputed private companies should be sold on sponsorship basis where these private players can compete by giving free food-items under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme for mid-day meal scheme. When IRCTC units are set up in plenty, these can produce food-items for mid-day meal scheme where also there are regular complaints about food quality.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
