IRCTC - Catering
Poor Catering Service

Dear Sir

Thanks to IRCTC, a team of individuals formed to cater the prime travel-needs to all classes of people. It has been providing a good range of services with the growing needs of the passengers. Again delivering them at the customers end through the latest prevailing technology (On-line) is an added feature of the corporation. However all the services cannot be given at the corporation’s ownership rather many of them need assigned to a third-party, as they grow in number. Following is a sample inconvenient incident happened with the passengers travelling in the train 8646 – East Coast Express, running from Hyderabad to Howrah on 21st of November and also similar incidents can certainly be suspected happening in other trains.

Though there was no Pantry-Car attached to the train there were persons taken charge to cater the food needs of the passengers by collecting orders and making them arranged from a nearby Railway Station. Yes, it is related to the quality of food supplied to the passengers of the train in dinner. They charged no less than what others do but while making a note of the quality of the same; it was not worth eating for human-beings. It mainly consisted of;

rice and a spoon-full of curry (potato/cabbage) poured in the same container

liquid chilly sauce – (it can neither be called as RASAM/SAMBAR nor DAL) and

a spoon-full Halwa in a plastic cup, hard enough to cut with a spoon.

All the passengers are well aware of the standard menu prescribed by IRCTC. Still how ill their fate for no one of them could raise a voice against what is missing in the menu including DRINGING-WATER. No moment one starts taking the food with the liquid chilly sauce, experiences a burn-feeling in the entire intestine. Moreover there was no other option for getting alternate food in the running train and also in a nearby station since it had already crossed Rajahmundry at that time. If such is the condition in an A/C coach, no wonder anything can be expected in other coaches.

I wished to talk to the on-board manager/in-charge of the Pantry Staff and asked the supplier to pass a message but “there is no such person in-charge in the train” said he. Finally I found the contact number and complete postal address of the contractor – P.Siva Prasad, on the wrapper as follows; P. Siva Prasad, Licensee Onboard Services, D.No. 6-2-310, New Bholguda. Secunderabad, Ph- 9959777234 and called him over phone. But the person on the other end claimed as the brother of Mr. Prasad, I don’t know who fool between both of us was. Still I requested to pass the message to Mr. Prasad during his next meet WITHOUT FAIL.

How pitiable the condition of the passengers who, in spite of having pocket-full of money and being dependent on IRCTC, find their fate ill to have mouthful of good food. On the other hand what not would be the feelings of the person who had packed the food making, every one of the passengers a FOOL? Here are the details (PNR Numbers) of some other fellow passengers who have faced the same set of troubles in the train; 1243767150, 1343399682, 1409425157, 1143889994, 1343065019, 1143877499 and mine is – 1343414659.

Now I request you to see whether such were the instructions deliberately given by the contractor to his staff for making extra money or it is the idea of the staff without the knowledge of Mr. Prasad. However, passengers are the sufferers in both the cases. Is it not the responsibility of the contractor to monitor the things? I would now request the concerned authorities to kindly make me confirm that necessary preventive measures have been initiated to stop similar lapses in future at the same time what action has been taken with regard to this particular issue. Finally I would also suggest IRCTC to deploy a team, conducting on-board surprise checks to have an effective monitoring mechanism over the sub-contractors.

G.Ravindra Nath Sharma

Company: IRCTC - Catering
Country: India

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