Indian Railways supplies nearly 16 lakh meals every day across its network, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha in a written response on Wednesday. He emphasized the continuous efforts made to ensure that meal services remain smooth and consistent.
Vaishnaw was responding to questions raised by Members of Parliament. These questions concerned complaints about corruption in awarding contracts for base kitchens. The kitchens are operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC).
The Railway Minister however noted, “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.”
Steps To Improve Hygiene & Food Quality
To improve food standards and hygiene on trains, the Ministry of Railways has issued specific instructions. These instructions mandate that meals must be sourced only from officially designated base kitchens.
These instructions also outline guidelines for:
- Mapping specific trains to nearby service points,
- Forming clusters of trains based on routes, and
- Identifying station areas where base kitchens can be set up
The plan also includes ensuring proper logistics, infrastructure, and trained staff for food preparation and delivery.
“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 asserted.
He further 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.”
Contracts Awarded After Competitive Bidding
As for the tendering process, he said that contracts were issued through a two-packet e-open bidding system to the highest bidders who met the eligibility standards.
“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),” the Railway Minister further remarked.
The designated base kitchens act as centralized food supply points for trains. These are equipped with standardized tools to manage raw materials, packaging, and stock efficiently.
“As of 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 these, 14 cases have been dismissed in favor of Indian Railways/IRCTC. Further, 3 cases are pending for hearing,” Ashwini Vaishnaw further emphasized.
He further concluded, “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.”
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