IRCTC forms new catering policy to upgrade food quality

The IRCTC has formed a new catering policy by unbundling the current services on trains, the Ministry of Railways said on Saturday. The decision was taken a day after the CAG released a report critical of the food served in stations and trains.

The ministry in an official statement said that the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) will set up new kitchens and upgrade existing ones in order to upgrade the quality of food preparation.

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The IRCTC has been mandated to carry out the unbundling by creating a distinction, primarily, between food preparation and food distribution, it added. The statement came after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), on Friday, came down heavily after observing that the food served at stations and in trains was “unfit for human consumption”.

The IRCTC will manage catering services on all mobile units, and pantry car contracts will also be reassigned to the railways’ catering arm, as per the new catering policy 2017 of the ministry. It further added that meals for all mobile units will be picked up from the nominated kitchens owned, operated and managed by the IRCTC.

With PTI inputs.

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