Now Reading: Railway Board chief reviews IRCTC war room, orders tighter monitoring
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Railway Board chief reviews IRCTC war room, orders tighter monitoring
Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar reviewed the IRCTC War Room on Thursday, directing tighter monitoring of catering kitchens and faster resolution of passenger complaints. He ordered that the Rail Madad complaint system…
Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar reviewed the IRCTC War Room on Thursday, directing tighter monitoring of catering kitchens and faster resolution of passenger complaints. He ordered that the Rail Madad complaint system be automated to allow passengers to file grievances with a single click, and that inspectors post performance data online to improve accountability.
The review focused on expanding camera coverage in kitchens from four feeds to include raw material storage areas and PTZ cameras. Kumar also called for a comprehensive review of roti and paratha preparation, and directed that AI-based alerts for rodents or cockroaches be followed by warning letters and deterrent action.
Third-party inspection agencies whose performance is consistently ineffective may be delisted, the chairman said. The moves are aimed at improving food quality and hygiene standards across Indian Railways' catering services.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Indian Railways serves an estimated 1.3 crore meals daily across its network, making catering quality a persistent passenger grievance. The Rail Madad platform, which centralises complaints, handled over 16 lakh catering-related grievances in FY 2023-24, according to railway data. Kitchen monitoring has been a known weak point: a 2022 Comptroller and Auditor General report flagged hygiene lapses in base kitchens and onboard catering. The push for PTZ cameras and AI alerts follows a March 2024 circular mandating real-time video monitoring of all major kitchens. The real test will be whether these directives translate into measurable improvement in passenger feedback scores, which the IRCTC dashboard updates weekly.
Source: freepressjournal.in
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
