Passenger finds dead cockroach in meals served aboard Vande Bharat Express
While it sparked outrage on social media about the quality of food on the premium train, the IRCTC regretted the incident and apologised to the complainant
In a shocking incident, symptomatic of how casually the Indian Railways takes catering services even in premium trains, a Vande Bharat Express passenger on February 1 found a cockroach in the food he was served on the train.
Dr. Shubhendu Keshari, a qualified medical practitioner with MBBS and MD degrees under his belt, boarded the Vande Bharat Express at Rani Kamlapati railway station in Bhopal for Jabalpur that day. He ordered food from the catering service available on the train, but when he opened the packet he found to his horror a dead cockroach embellishing the meal.
A “traumatized” Keshari lodged a formal complaint on the complaint book of the train and also took pictures of the unusual treat he had on the train. “I was travelling in Train 20173 Rani Kamlapati for Jabalpur and I had ordered a non-veg thali (included in ticket fare). There was a dead cockroach in my meal which was in potato vegetable,” he wrote in his complaint, where he also added the other details like PNR.
Dr Keshari also shared the pictures of the meal, showing the bug, and a picture of the complaint, on X, formerly Twitter, on February 3 on his handle, and tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Ministry of Railways and Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), among others. “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,” he wrote about his experience.
Even as netizens began wondering aloud about the quality of food on a premium train like Vande Bharat on social media, the IRCTC moved swiftly to regret the incident and apologise to Dr Keshari. The IRCTC also informed him about the hefty penalty they had imposed on the caterer. Monitoring has also been strengthened, assured the IRCTC, the ticketing and catering arm of the Railways.
“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,” the IRCTC wrote in its reply to Dr Keshari’s tweet on X.
