New Delhi: The railways has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on a Rajdhani train caterer for serving a vegetarian meal to a Jain passenger, who discovered to his horror that there were bones in the vegetables. The railways, taking the lapse seriously, issued an order on Tuesday imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh to the pantry car licensee.
A regular train passenger, Tikam Chand Jain had boarded the Dibrugarh-Rajdhani in New Delhi for Guwahati on September 19. He ordered a vegetarian meal for lunch on the train. But, to his horror, he discovered that he had been chewing bones mixed in vegetables. Even though he complained to the pantry manager, there was no redressal of his complaint. In his complaint to the railways, Mr Jain said that the pantry manager, in fact, blamed him for not having checked the meal properly before eating.
“The complaint has been viewed very seriously by the competent authority and a fine of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed. A showcause notice to the licensee is also being sent,” the chief commercial manager of Northern Railways said, while informing the Railway Board of the action taken on the complaint. The pantry in the New Delhi Dibrugarh Rajdhani train is not serviced by the Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation, which, however, manages pantry cars in a few other Rajdhani trains.
“The caterer is a private entity and the fine has been such that it should deter all licensees from indulging in lapses. The manner in which the pantry manager allegedly dealt with the complaint of the passenger is against the norms set by the Railway Board. We will soon start sensitising pantry personnel on basic etiquette,” said a Railway Board senior official.
