The Hyderabad High Court pulled up railway authorities on Thursday for neglecting hygiene in trains and railway stations.
The court was hearing a plea by a contractor running a canteen on Platform 1 of Visakhapatnam railway station and refused to give him relief.
The case came up for hearing after a video reportedly from the railway station went viral, as railway canteen vendors were caught on camera repacking food spilled on the platform into containers.
The one-minute video showed three railway vendors sitting on the platform, scooping up spilled food from the platform floor and repacking it into containers, to be later sold to passengers.
The railway staff were also caught without plastic gloves, and the video was widely shared on social media platforms, leaving many horrified.
The Times of India reported that while the contractor was fired, a single judge earlier had stayed his termination.
Following this, the general manager of East Coast Railway filed an appeal in the High Court.
Refusing to grant him relief, the HC also lashed out against railway officials for their standard of hygiene.
Pointing out the dirty conditions prevailing inside trains, the court asked, “Is the staff meant to keep these coaches clean not working at all?"
Stating that the condition of the train toilets was too bad to be described, the court asked authorities what steps were being taken to maintain cleanliness.
After the video surfaced, the contractor was fined Rs 1 lakh and the licence of the catering unit was terminated.
The video had surfaced just weeks after the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) slammed Indian railways for selling food that was “unsuitable for human consumption”.
The scathing report observed, “Unpurified water straight from tap was used in preparation of beverages, waste bins were not found covered, not emptied regularly and not washed, food stuff were not covered to protect them from flies, insects and dust, rats and cockroaches were found in trains etc."
Watch the video below.