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CAG report on railway catering services raises concerns about hygiene
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Wednesday, 26 July, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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The Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG) report on catering services in Indian Railways, which was for the year ended March 2016 and tabled in Parliament recently, has raised serious concerns on the management of catering services aboard Indian trains. During the CAG inspection, it was found that the food lacked hygiene and was of a poor quality, and bills were not issued for the items served.
The reasons cited for these were the frequent changes in the management and policy changes, which led to the state of uncertainty, and therefore, Indian Railways was unable to take effective steps to bridge the gaps to provide necessary infrastructure in terms of base kitchens, static catering units, train side vending arrangements, automatic vending machines, etc.
Indian Railways has revised its catering policy thrice since 2005. As per the new policy (issued in February 2017), a number of catering activities which were assigned to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in the 2005 policy were transferred to Zonal Railways in the 2010 policy, and have now been reassigned to IRCTC.
There are only 16 base kitchens located in the railway premises. The report stated that 115 base kitchens were located outside the railway premises, and were not subjected to quality checks.
It added, “During the joint inspection at 74 selection stations and aboard 80 trains, the audit noticed that cleanliness and hygiene were not being maintained at the catering units at stations and in trains.”
“Unpurified water, straight from the tap, was used for the preparation of beverages; waste bins were neither found covered, nor emptied regularly nor washed; foodstuff was not covered to protect it from flies, insects and dust, and rats and cockroaches were found in trains,” the report stated.
It also pointed out that bills were not given for the food items served in mobile units in trains, and printed menu cards with the rates of the food items sold in the mobile units were not available with waiters and catering managers in trains.
“The foodstuff served was less than the prescribed scheduled quantity; unapproved packaged drinking water was sold; proprietary article depot items were sold at the railway stations at the maximum retail price (MRP) with the weight and prices different from the open market, and the per unit prices of food articles sold in the railway premises were significantly higher,” the report said.
“Deficiencies in respect of quality of food served were noticed. Articles unsuitable for human consumption, contaminated foodstuff, recycled foodstuff, expired packaged and bottled items, unauthorised brands of water bottles, etc., were offered for sale at stations,” it added.
The report included the assessment of adequacy and availability of good quality and hygienic food to railway passengers at affordable rates.
Audit analysis related to management of contracts awarded for providing catering services at stations and in trains for ensuring good quality catering services was also included in it.
The audit also conducted joint inspection along with the railway personnel to assess and check the adequacy and availability of catering services at stations and in trains.
Meanwhile, the railway ministry has issued a statement about the corrective measures it has taken to improve the catering service aboard trains.
According to the ministry, Indian Railways provides approximately 1.1 million meals to passengers every day. Out of these, one million are provided on board itself.
“The railway minister has announced unbundling of food production and food disbursement through a revamped catering policy. Under this policy, ultra-modern kitchens, ranging from mega to nano, will be established in partnership with the private sector. They will use the most hygienic and latest equipment for food preparation,” added the statement.
The Railways stated that it has taken several steps to improve the services. These include the New Catering Policy 2017.
According to this, a Menu and Tariff Committee has been constituted with terms of references (TOR) including fixation of tariff for standard menu/food items on the list of menu items given by IRCTC, calculation of empirical formulae to compute annual or periodical escalation with respect to the increase in prices of the components leading to preparation of meal, components like ensuring hygiene, hiring of professional agencies, ingredients as per laid down norms, etc. to be taken into consideration so as to ensure the quality and hygiene of food prepared.
The committee is likely to submit its report by July 31, 2017.
Giving details of the action taken against offenders, the Railways stated, “A policy of zero-tolerance towards the poor quality of food served to passengers and overcharging is being followed, and in the last six months, seven contracts have been terminated.”
“Sixteen contractors have been blacklisted for breach of contract terms in the last one year. A fine amounting to Rs 4.56 crore has been imposed between January and June 2017 vis-a-vis the Rs 4.05 crore imposed in 2016, Rs 2.61 crore in 2015 and Rs 1.73 crore in 2014,” it added.
“Disciplinary action has been taken against 21 railway officials in the last one year, and over 40,000 inspections have been undertaken by railway officials to improve the catering services,” stated the Railways.
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