dna impact: Railway Ministery fines 'cockroach soup' caterer Rs1 lakh

The railway ministry, based on a report published in the September 17 edition of dna, fined a caterer an amount of Rs 1 lakh after a passenger on the 12780 Goa Express found a cockroach wing in her soup cup and co-passengers found a dead cockroach floating in the container from which the soup was being poured.

Confirming the fine, Anil Saxena, additional director-general, public relations, railway board, said, "The ministry has taken cognizance of the report and under instructions from the railway minister and member (traffic) has fined the caterer a sum of Rs1 lakh. He is the tenth person so far to be given this exemplary fine in the past one month. It is a reminder that the railways will not tolerate such incidents in catering. And I call upon people to complaint on the national catering complaint helpline and action will be taken in real time."

As reported earlier by dna, a Pune-based couple, Prakash and Veena Nayak, found what looked like an onion peel in the soup cup the latter had bought while travelling between Mathura and Pune on the Goa express. On closer inspection the couple found that it was the wing of a cockroach. When co-passengers, led by Vaibhav Kadam, forced the catering personnel to open the steel container from which the soup was being vended, they found a dead cockroach floating in the soup.

The railway board's action has been based on the online complaint that Kadam filed on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website against Satyam Caterers, said railway officials.

The Nayaks are pleased to have managed to set something right in the otherwise rapidly plummeting standards of railway catering. "I hope the railways continues with its strict stance and ensure that passengers in trains, who have no other option but to buy from caterers on board, are not fooled," Prakash Nayak told dna.

Kadam, a Belgaum-based businessman, said the railway's quick response was heartening though the ideal toughness would be to have a rule blacklisting any caterer who has a second complaint filed against him. "An amount of Rs 1 lakh is not a huge one for these caterers who any way make lakhs as profit by overcharging on meals. Only when their contracts are cancelled will they feel the pinch," Kadam said.

National Catering Complaint Helpline
1800-111-321