Lok Sabha Question No. 2752 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-04
Subject: Quality of Food in Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Nishikant  Dubey, Vijay Baghel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2752 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.12.2019

## QUALITY OF FOOD IN TRAINS

2752. DR. NISHIKANT DUBEY:

SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that the quality of food supplied by IRCTC is of substandard quality;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  reaction  of  the  Government thereto; and
- (c) the number and details of private partners providing food in trains and the mechanism of monitoring such private partners?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) & (b): No, Sir. It is the continuous endeavour of Indian Railways to provide quality  and  hygienic  food  to  passengers.  Whenever  any instance  of  serving  of  substandard  quality  of  food  is  noticed  or observed, appropriate action is taken against the service provider.
- (c): As per Catering Policy 2017, IRCTC has been mandated to provide catering  services  on  trains.  Further,  IRCTC  has  engaged  44  private service providers for providing quality and hygienic food in trains. The

details of these service providers are appended. Following mechanism has been put in place by IRCTC/Railways to monitor catering services in trains and Kitchen Units:

- I. To ensure centralized monitoring of the kitchen activities,  CCTVs have been installed in 39 Kitchen Units. Sharing of live streaming of the Kitchen Units through website of IRCTC has been made operational.
- II. To ensure compliance of Food Safety Norms, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certification from Designated Food Safety Officers of each catering unit has been made mandatory.

III. Food Safety Supervisors have been deployed by IRCTC to monitor food safety  and  hygienic  practices.  Food  samples  collected  by  Food  Safety Officers/Supervisors  are  sent  to  the  nominated  accredited  Laboratories under  Food  Safety  &  Standard  Act  for  analysis  and  testing.  Penalties  are imposed in cases of detection of unsatisfactory food samples.

- IV. Examination of quality and hygiene of food is done through Third Party Audit. Customer satisfaction survey is also conducted through Third Party Agencies.
- V. Onboard  supervisors  have  been  deployed  by  IRCTC  on  the  trains  for regular monitoring of the catering services.
- VI. Regular  and  surprise  inspections  are  conducted  by  Railway  officials including Food Safety Officers.
- VII. Monitoring  and  supervision  of  catering  services  through  operation  of centralized Catering Service Monitoring Cell (CSMC) toll free number 1800111-321,  Rail  Madad,  Twitter  handle,  CPGRAMS,  E-Mail  and  SMS  based complaints redressal.

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APPENDIX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  2752  BY  DR.  NISHIKANT  DUBEY  AND  SHRI  VIJAY  BAGHEL  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 04.12.2019 REGARDING QUALITY OF FOOD IN TRAINS

(c):  Names  of  private  service  providers  currently  providing  food  in  the  trains with pantry cars are as follows:-

|   S. No. | Name of Licensee                                        |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | A A Catering Co.                                        |
|        2 | A. S. Sales Corporation                                 |
|        3 | A-Diet Express Hospitality Services Ltd.                |
|        4 | Alok Kumar Ghosh                                        |
|        5 | Ambuj Hotel & Real Estate (P) Ltd.                      |
|        6 | Arenco Catering                                         |
|        7 | Boon Catering Co. Pvt. Ltd.                             |
|        8 | Brandavan Food Products                                 |
|        9 | Classic Caterers                                        |
|       10 | Deepak & Co.                                            |
|       11 | Doon's Caterers                                         |
|       12 | Express Food Services                                   |
|       13 | Fine Caterers & Suppliers                               |
|       14 | Food World                                              |
|       15 | Galav Foods                                             |
|       16 | Golden Caterers                                         |
|       17 | Griham Food & Hotel Pvt. Ltd.                           |
|       18 | Hakmichand D. & Sons                                    |
|       19 | Hotel Rajasthan                                         |
|       20 | Jayanta Kumar Ghosh Outdoor Catreing Services Pvt. Ltd. |
|       21 | K.M. Musthafa                                           |
|       22 | K. M. A. Caterers                                       |

|   S. No. | Name of Licensee                             |
|----------|----------------------------------------------|
|       23 | Krishna Enterprises                          |
|       24 | Kwality Caterers                             |
|       25 | New Classic Caterers Pvt. Ltd.               |
|       26 | Om Sai Ram Enterprises                       |
|       27 | P. Siva Prasad                               |
|       28 | Poorvanchal Caterers                         |
|       29 | Pplus Facility Management Services Pvt Ltd   |
|       30 | R K Food Products                            |
|       31 | R.K. Associates & Hoteliers Pvt. Ltd.        |
|       32 | Rathour Services                             |
|       33 | Roop Caterers                                |
|       34 | Sai Balaji Food & Beverage (India) Pvt. Ltd. |
|       35 | Salasar Enterprises                          |
|       36 | Sanraj Hospitality                           |
|       37 | Satyam Caterers Pvt. Ltd.                    |
|       38 | Seema Caterers                               |
|       39 | Singh Caterers & Vendors                     |
|       40 | Speed Catering Services Pvt. Ltd.            |
|       41 | Sree Venkateswara Enterprises                |
|       42 | Sunshine Caterers Pvt. Ltd.                  |
|       43 | Variety Pantry Services (P) Ltd.             |
|       44 | Vasantham Caterers                           |

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