Lok Sabha Question No. 2388 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-16
Subject: Good Quality Food in Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2388 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2022

GOOD QUALITY FOOD IN TRAINS

2388. SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  provide  quality food from IRCTC in all its trains;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the mechanism in place to ensure that good quality food is being supplied by IRCTC;
- (d)  the  number  of  catering  agencies  found  guilty  regarding  providing poor food quality, hygiene and cleanliness of pantry car during the last three years; and
- (e) the details of the action taken against them?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2388 BY SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM TO BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  16.03.2022  REGARDING  GOOD  QUALITY FOOD IN TRAINS (a) to (c): Yes, Sir. It is the continuous endeavour of Indian Railways (IR) to provide  quality  food  to  the  passengers  as  per  norms  and  standards prescribed by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Major initiatives  undertaken  to  improve  the  quality  of  food  being  served  to  the passengers in trains are as under:

-  Upgradation of Base Kitchen/ Kitchen Units.
-  Installation  of  CCTV  Cameras  in  Base  Kitchens  /Kitchen  Units  for  real time monitoring of food preparation at source.
-  To  ensure  compliance  of  Food  Safety  Norms,  FSSAI  certification  from Designated  Food  Safety  Officers  of  each  catering  unit  has  been  made mandatory.
-  Food Safety Supervisors have been deployed at Kitchen Units to monitor food safety and hygienic practices.
-  Deployment of on board IRCTC supervisors in trains for regular monitoring  of  catering  services  and  real  time  redressal  of  passenger grievances.
-  QR  codes  on  food  packets  enabling  display  of  details  like  name  of kitchen, date of packaging, expiry date etc.
-  Third Party Audit is done to examine hygiene and cleanliness in Pantry Cars and Kitchen Units. Customer satisfaction survey is also conducted.
-  Regular  and  surprise  inspections  are  conducted  by  Railway  officials including Food Safety Officers.

In addition to the above steps, there is a robust system in place for passenger feedback and complaints redressal through Rail Madad, Twitter handle @ IR CATERING, CPGRAMS, E-Mail and SMS. Whenever any instance of  serving  of  substandard  quality  food  is  noticed  or  reported,  appropriate penal action is taken against the service provider.

(d)  and (e):  The details of catering licensees, against whom complaints of deficiency in catering services on account of poor quality and hygiene have been received during the last three years along with the action taken are appended.

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APPENDIX  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY TO PARTS  (d) AND  (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2388 BY SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  16.03.2022  REGARDING  GOOD QUALITY FOOD IN TRAINS

(d) and (e): A total of 56 agencies have been found guilty during the last three  years  (i.e.  2018-19,  2019-20  and  2020-21).  The  details  of  the complaints  regarding  poor  food  quality,  hygiene  and  cleanliness  of pantry  car  along  with  the  action  taken  against  these  agencies  are  as under:

| Year     | Type of Complai nt   |   Total No. of complaints |   No. of cases | Amount of fine imposed (in Rs.)   | Warned   |   Terminated |   Suitably Advised |   Not Substantiated |   D&AR |   Any Other |   Total |
|----------|----------------------|---------------------------|----------------|-----------------------------------|----------|--------------|--------------------|---------------------|--------|-------------|---------|
| 2018-    | Quality              |                      1927 |            301 | 19,91,160                         | 898      |            0 |                442 |                 166 |      0 |         120 |    1927 |
|          | Hygiene              |                       185 |             80 | 13,57,280                         | 59       |            0 |                 30 |                  10 |      0 |           6 |     185 |
| 2019- 20 | Quality              |                      2335 |            223 | 22,66,947                         | 1014     |            0 |                906 |                 103 |      0 |          89 |    2335 |
|          | Hygiene              |                       254 |            144 | 36,73,500                         | 46       |            0 |                 42 |                   9 |      1 |          12 |     254 |
| 2020- 21 | Quality              |                       253 |             49 | 6,89,300                          | 90       |            1 |                 77 |                  27 |      0 |           9 |     253 |
|          | Hygiene              |                        51 |             11 | 1,82,900                          | 21       |            0 |                 15 |                   2 |      0 |           2 |      51 |
| Total    | Total                |                      5005 |            808 | 1,01,61,0872128                   |          |            1 |               1512 |                 317 |      1 |         238 |    5005 |

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