Kochi: The railways has finally decided to address the issue of unhygienic condition in pantry cars, which has been one of the main complaints of passengers for long.
The food safety officers of Trivandrum division on Monday started “classes” on running trains on hygienic practices for pantry car vendors, almost all of them North Indians.
The measure comes in the wake of the Christmas-New Year festival season and is also aimed at ensuring quality food to inter-state Sabarimala pilgrims.
“The subjects include how to keep the pantry car neat, safe cooking practices and how to prepare desi flavour foods.
A total of 28 vendors of Kerala Express were given the class on Monday after a team of officers travelled from Ernakulam to Chengannur,” said Mr P. Santosh Kumar, food safety officer of Southern Railway.
“During the trip, we found the cleanliness in the coach satisfactory but hygienic practices in the pantry car needed to be improved.
We also took food samples from stalls at the Chengannur railway station for testing as the station records the highest arrival of devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The pantry car contracts in the trains originating from the state have all been bagged by catering firms elsewhere and hence the employees consist mainly of those hailing from the northern states.
We’ve also taught them how to give desi flavours to the commonly-provided snacks like samosa,” he said. The railways is also mulling levying a fine of Rs 200 if the caterer is found providing low-quality tea.
