DNA Edit: Train to hell

The Comptroller and Auditor General’s audit report on the quality of food served in Indian Railways, terming it unfit for human consumption, is a shocking exposé. Millions of people travel by the Railways everyday and they are routinely exposed to health hazards because of the criminal indifference of the authorities.

The Railways, says the report, offers contaminated foodstuff, recycled foodstuff, packaged and bottled items past their shelf life and unauthorised brands of water bottles at the stations. Apart from these dangerous lapses, the pantry units in trains were found to be low on cleanliness and hygiene. Imagine the horror when the inspection team saw that the food stuff it kept for sale could be accessed by rats, flies and other insects at stations and in trains.

The Railways, we know, is a loss-making public service but should that be an excuse to allow such negligence and gross violations? Sadly, it is also cheating consumers as items sold in its premises were found to carry higher price tags than the same goods sold in the open market.

Successive Railway ministers had turned a blind eye to the declining standards, which finally led to this bottom-of-the-pit situation. Now the onus is on Suresh Prabhu to turn things around. He has to crack the whip to bring the Railways back to shape. It will involve several hard decisions, many of which may be deemed unpopular. That’s alright since populism has been the biggest bane for this public transport.