16 lakh meals served in trains daily: Railway minister informs Lok Sabha
Indian Railways' network with an endeavour to ensure smooth and uninterrupted services, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Vaishnaw responded to questions raised by parliamentarians on complaints filed by MPs, MLAs, ministers and public representatives against corruption in the award of contracts for base kitchens by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) and issues related to that.
«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,» Railway Minister said.
He added that with the objective to bring improvement in the quality and hygiene of food in trains, the Railway Ministry issued instructions for the stipulation of supply of meals in trains only from designated base kitchens.
These instructions, according to him, provided norms for mapping of trains with service locations and formation of route-wise clusters of trains along with identified locations for commissioning of base kitchens (kitchens in the station area), putting in place adequate logistics, service infrastructure and deployment of trained manpower.
«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