16 lakh meals served in trains daily: Railway minister informs Lok Sabha

New Delhi: On an average, 16 lakh meals are served per day on the Indian Railways’ network with an endeavour to ensure smooth and uninterrupted services, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Vaishnaw responded to questions raised by parliamentarians on complaints filed by MPs, MLAs, ministers and public representatives against corruption in the award of contracts for base kitchens by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) and issues related to that.

“On an average, 16 lakh meals are served per day on the Indian Railways’ network. It is the endeavour of Indian Railways to ensure smooth and uninterrupted services of such a large volume of meals to passengers. Further, necessary measures are put in place from time to time to improve overall services to passengers,” Railway Minister said.

He added that with the objective to bring improvement in the quality and hygiene of food in trains, the Railway Ministry issued instructions for the stipulation of supply of meals in trains only from designated base kitchens.

These instructions, according to him, provided norms for mapping of trains with service locations and formation of route-wise clusters of trains along with identified locations for commissioning of base kitchens (kitchens in the station area), putting in place adequate logistics, service infrastructure and deployment of trained manpower.

“It is envisaged to award contracts for clusters of trains in place of an individual train. Emphasis has been placed on infrastructure development and fixing end-to-end accountability of food production and services onboard,” Vaishnaw said.

He added, “Accordingly, as mandated, the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has undertaken tendering of these clusters of trains under the framework of the extant policy guidelines.”

Informing on the tender process, Vaishnaw said that contracts have been awarded through two packet e-open tender to the highest bidders, who fulfil the eligibility criteria defined in the norms. .

“Following the due process of tendering, IRCTC has awarded contracts of 168 clusters for which a total of 653 bids were received. Clusters are in two groups i.e., ‘Cluster A’, comprising premium prepaid trains and Mail/Express trains with pantry cars and ‘Cluster B’, comprising Mail/Express trains with Pantry Cars and trains with train side vending (TSV),” he said.

The Railway Minister stated that designated base kitchens are a single point source of supply of meals to the trains and these are equipped with standardized kitchen equipment to ensure sourcing of high-quality raw material, packaging material and proper inventory management.

“As on March 15, a total of 717 base kitchens have been commissioned across the country. A total of 17 civil cases have been registered against the cluster based tendering in various High Courts. Out of which 14 cases have been dismissed in favour of Indian Railways/IRCTC. Further 3 cases are pending for hearing,” Vaishnaw said.

He added, “Receipt of representations, suggestions, grievances, complaints etc. from stakeholders, elected representatives, catering associations, individuals etc. by Railways at various levels is a continuous and dynamic process. These concerns are examined on merits and necessary action is taken accordingly.”