Catering in Railways

The catering services in railway trains in the Northeastern region have always come under strong criticism of the passengers. While many important trains on crucial routes – like Naharlagun-Guwahati – do not have any catering service at all, trains that have pantry cars are notorious for the poor quality of food they serve to the passengers. There have been numerous complaints by passengers, especially those travelling by the Rajdhani Express that the quality of food suddenly drops once the luxurious train crosses the Srirampur station and enters the Northeast. There have been complaints that while the chicken stinks, the roti is generally burnt, and the curry is nothing but some liquid concoction the composition of which is best known only to the Indian Railways. The condition of food in other trains, including the long-distance ones originating from Naharlagun, Dibrugarh, Silchar and Agartala is also generally said to be horrible, with passengers having to bear it just because there is no alternative. Same is the case with the luxury Shatabdi Express that runs between Dibrugarh-Guwahati-Naharlagun and vice versa, as also with the Jan-Shatabdi Express that shuttles between Guwahati and Jorhat Town. While in the case of Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express the cost of food is included in the ticket itself, passengers are required to buy their food while travelling in the Janshatabdi Express. Quarrels between passengers and the catering personnel have become everyday affair in the Janshatabdi Express, especially over the refusal by the catering staff to display the menu and price-list of the items. While the Railways would pass the buck to the IRCTC by saying that it was the latter company’s responsibility to take care of the catering, the most condemnable fact is that railway officials on duty in these trains either do not carry complaint books with them or refuse to provide complaint books to the passengers. It continues to be a mystery why the Indian Railways cannot put the menu and price-list of food items in prominent display so that the passengers are not fleeced by the catering personnel.