The passenger filed a complaint about unsanitary condition of the food.
A passenger travelling from Rani Kamlapati to Jabalpur Junction on Vande Bharat Express on February 1 was left shocked when he found a dead cockroach in the meal served by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The passenger shared several pictures of the meal on X (formerly Twitter), leading to an array of reactions from users who raised questions about the quality of food served on Indian trains. The IRCTC also took note of the incident and responded to the viral post.
The passenger, named Dr Shubhendu Keshari, shared the images of the non-vegetarian thali he received onboard the Vande Bharat Express. The pictures show the dead cockroach in the meal. Dr Keshari also shared a picture of the complaint he filed at Jabalpur station about the unsanitary condition of the food. Alongside the images, Mr Keshari wrote, "I was travelling on 1/02/2024 train no. 20173 RKMP to JBP (Vande Bharat Exp) I was traumatized by seeing dead COCKROACH in the food packet given by them".
Take a look at his post below:
IRCTC responded to the incident promptly. The officials issued an apology for the unpleasant experience and added that a hefty penalty has been imposed on the concerned service provider.
"Sir, our sincere apology for the experience you had.The matter is viewed seriously, and the hefty penalty has been imposed on the concerned service provider. Moreover, monitoring has been strengthened at the source," IRCTC wrote.
Separately, Railway Seva responded to the tweet and said that a complaint has been registered. "Your complaint has been registered on RailMadad and complaint no. has been sent through SMS on your mobile number," they wrote.
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X users also shared their reactions in the comments section. "Thanks for exposing the quality, never gonna order in railways from now," wrote one user.
Notably, this is not the first time a passenger has experienced such a disturbing situation while travelling on Vande Bharat Express. Back in July, another passenger travelling from Bhopal to Gwalior on Vande Bharat Express was left shocked when he found a cockroach in the meal served by IRCTC. Railway Seva responded to the complaint and issued an apology for the unpleasant experience, adding that necessary actions would be taken so that such incidents won't be repeated. IRCTC also responded to his tweet and shared that fresh food was provided to the passenger.