Mamatas roadmap for rail reforms: better food,clean linen

Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee wants the drinking water dispensing system at Sealdah railway station to be studied...

Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee wants the drinking water dispensing system at Sealdah railway station to be studied and replicated at major junction stations across the country. She also wants constant monitoring of the quality of food being served onboard trains. These are some of the several points that figure in the wishlist of the new Railways Minister that Rail Bhavan has recently communicated to all Zonal Railways.

The ministers top priorities,ranging from providing passenger amenities at stations to ensuring proper arrangement of drinking water to having proper announcements,particularly for trains running late,have been communicated to all 16 zonal railways by Railway Board chairman S S Khurana. Banerjee had listed out these priorities in her first meeting with Khurana last week.

Banerjee is learnt to have told the Railways top brass that they needed to bring out perceptible improvements in the quality of linen given in trains,mincing no words in stating that the quality of linen had deteriorated.

Mamatas focus seems to be on food,and she has asked the ministry to monitor the quality of food served at the stations and in the trains. The minister has also stressed the need for joint checks and inspections with IRCTC officers to bring about improvements in quality.

Taking the cue,Rail Bhavan,too,has lost no time and decided to make the Commercial Department of the Zonal Railways responsible and accountable for all the mobile catering services within their jurisdictions. In instructions issued recently,the Tourism and Catering wing of the Railways ministry has made the zonal,regional and local managers of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) answerable to the Zonal Railway administration. IRCTC,which primarily handles onboard catering,has also been asked to take instructions from and give compliance to the Zonal Railways administration.

Further,the Railways has decided to post Officers on Special Duty to ensure better monitoring and coordination of catering services. The Chief Commercial Managers (CCMs) have been asked to deploy officers and inspectors to monitor the quality of food and services in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains to begin with. Rail Bhavan has also directed the IRCTC to shortlist Quality Control Professionals (QCPs) having training and expertise in food production areas and post them in important Base Kitchens at Mumbai,Kolkata,Delhi and Chennai. These QCPs will carefully monitor food preparation and have the authority to reject food items which are not up to the mark either in terms of taste or quality or ingredients used, the instructions state.

The IRCTC also been asked to make alternative arrangements for procurement and supply of food items from alternative sources in case a particular item is rejected by the QCPs at the Base Kitchens.