In a continuous endeavour by the Indian Railways to provide good quality hygienic food and water to Railway passengers, a New Catering Policy, 2010 has been introduced with a mandate for effective quality assurance programme. ISO-22000 (International Organization for Standardization) standards are to be progressively implemented for major contracts/units. Supervision and monitoring have been strengthened through a mechanism put in place by deploying railway personnel, to check quality and hygiene and take corrective action in a time-bound manner.
Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stated, about 44,286 inspections have been carried out from April 2012 to June 2013. Any irregularity found is addressed through positive actions like imposition of fine; warning and termination of contract etc. taken according to the gravity of offence/irregularity. Passengers’ opinion cards also circulated for feedback and improvement. A centralized toll free number 1800-111-321 is provided for prompt redressal of the passenger grievances related to the catering activities giving real time assistance to travelling public. On the same pattern, Catering Monitoring Cells have been set up at Zonal and Divisional level for daily monitoring of the catering activities.
