Dinesh Trivedi, the former railway minister, exposed the sorry state of beverages served on the railways, even in the most expensive coaches of premium trains like Shatabdi, CNN News18 reported.
Trivedi boarded the train and displayed the poor condition of Fresca lemon drink’s package, which had grime at the bottom. Even after the fares were hiked, the BJP government has been unable to ensure clean drinking water on trains, Trivedi rued.
Trivedi also said that people have become complicit and they don’t protest enough which is why companies can get away with such sub-standard quality.
We are responsible for this too as we do not protest enough. We take a shot of it, it runs in your channel, people will tweet it and railways will say this is what the company has given us.
He demanded that the government cancel their contract with Fresca. Trivedi, who was sacked as the rail minister in 2012 after his proposition that the fare hikes be regulated via a rail regulator, said that there must be surprise checks on vendors to ensure the quality of products being served.
A new catering policy was introduced by the government this year to ensure better quality of food. Trivedi stated that while he may accept the sub-standard food, there can be no compromise when it comes to passenger safety.
This controversy comes just days after 23 people were killed in a stampede at Mumbai’s Elphinstone railway station as the foot-over-bridge was not wide enough to handle the volume of daily commuters. It was revealed that new bridges had been sanctioned months ago but work on them never began.
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