Indian Railways: Structural Reforms In Catering Service To Ensure Quality Food To Passengers

Indian Railways has initiated structural reforms to provide quality food to passengers.

This was discussed at a meeting of the consultative committee of Members of Parliament for the Railways Ministry on Thursday.

The agenda covered two topics including catering services on Indian Railways and station development under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

The meeting was chaired by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and attended by several MPs.

The members were informed that approximately 1.8 crore passengers travel daily on Indian Railways, and all efforts are being made to ensure availability of adequate catering facilities in trains and stations.

In the last few years, the railways has undertaken an in-depth analysis of catering services and has initiated structural reforms to improve them. The ministry has unbundled catering services, distinguishing between food preparation and distribution.

Catering services are provided to the passengers either through static or mobile units. There are 473 pairs of trains with pantry cars/mini pantries, and 706 pairs of trains with side vending facility.

There are 9,342 minor and 582 major static units of the railways which include Jan Aahaar outlets, food plazas and refreshment rooms.

The railways has given IRCTC the flexibility to customise and decide the menu in trains to include all items of regional cuisine, seasonal delicacies, and food items as per the preferences of different groups of passengers.

The e-catering scheme has also been introduced on the railways. Cashless transaction facilities are provided on both mobile and static catering units.

Third party audit of catering services is also undertaken to ensure quality and service standards.

Regular and surprise inspections are conducted to monitor and supervise the catering services.

On the station development front, it was informed that upgradation and modernisation of stations are underway.

Three stations — Rani Kamlapati in Madhya Pradesh, Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Sir M Visvesvaraya Railway Station in Karnataka have been redeveloped/modernised so far.

Based on the experience gained from these three stations, the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme has been launched for development of other stations. This scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.

It involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations.

The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for divyangjans, sustainable and environment-friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, ‘roof plazas’ as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.

Presently, the scheme envisages to take up 1,275 stations for upgradation/modernisation.

MPs gave suggestions for improving services, and the Minister of Railways thanked them for their inputs.