Passengers travelling by the Indian Railways will now have more to choose from than just the regular “vegetarian and non-vegetarian” meals served from the pantry cars.

The new menu put together by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd promises passengers more “quality and quantity” than ever before. And with the food menu pasted on the walls of the compartment, passengers will not have to wait for the pantry attendant to know what’s cooking.

The menu, besides “indicating the food items being served”, will mention the quantity and selling price of the food items, and telephone numbers where they can register their complaints and suggestions round-the-clock.

In an affidavit filed by the catering corporation before a Bench led by Delhi High Court Chief Justice M K Sharma on Wednesday, the menu sticker is the “end-product” of 12,827 inspections done by quality inspectors and “substantial fines” on private licence holders for deficiencies. “There are 367 cases of fines registered from April 2006 to February 2007. Five major catering contracts have also been terminated,” said the IRCTC.

Detailing the working of the grievance redressal mechanism, the corporation said on receiving a complaint from a passenger traveling on a train, the zonal call centre will “immediately” initiate an enquiry in co-ordination with the catering licensee and quality control officials.

The germ of the idea of a “revised” menu was sourced from the Terms of Reference of a high-powered panel comprising Chief Commercial Managers of the Northern, Southern and Central Railways. “The terms suggest rotation of menu and multi menu, parallel diet menu, diabetics’ menu for meals served in Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains and other mails and trains,” the affidavit read. The IRCTC also submitted that 58 quality control professionals holding diplomas and degrees in hospitality and with minimum two years’ experience have been recruited for supervision on specific trains.

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