Southern Railway was in for a shock on Sunday after an elderly passenger circulated an angry video questioning the price of ready-to-eat goods provided on the train. The man, who was travelling from Karaikudi to Chennai on Pallavan Express, was incensed over the sale of 50 grams of pongal (a breakfast item) for Rs 80 and alleged that it was an effort to make more money off passengers.
In the two-and-a-half minute video, the man says, "There are only 50 grams of pongal in this. Which foolish man or minister asked you to sell this for Rs 80? You may think 'foolish' is harsh. But I strongly condemn the authority who allowed you to cheat people like this. Outside, 50 grams of pongal will only be Rs 5. Moreover, you are saying this pongal will expire in eight months. How is this possible? Don't make the servers our enemies on the train."
He alleged that passengers were being cheated for 75 years and that if such a dish is brought again all the products will be thrown out of the window.
Watch the video made by the passenger here:
The Southern Railway, which is yet to start passenger and express trains, however, pointed out that these complaints over quality and overpricing are invalid.
"This complaint pertains to 'ready to eat' (RTE) pongal which was sold at MRP on train. The quantity referred to in the complaint was of the pre-cooked granules. Now as per the Railways Board's guidelines, no cooked food is allowed to be sold on trains. IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) can only sell RTE items, PAD items, coffee, tea and packaged water on trains. There was a viral video of a man saying that he was given 50 gms of food and charged Rs 80. Due to COVID-19 situation, no bedrolls and no cooked food is the new normal. In all the Railway advisories and releases, passengers were advised to make their own arrangements for bedrolls and to bring their own food," the railway told the media.
They argued that to cater to the minimum needs of the passengers while travelling, mobile catering units operated by IRCTC were advised to sell only ‘ready to eat’ food items comprising local cuisine varieties sourced from reputed brands, PAD items (such as packed snacks, potato chips, biscuits, etc.), hot beverages and water bottles to the passengers on board.
"In the IRCTC approved RTE meal of M/s Triguni Foods Pongal Sambar of 61 gms, the instructions are very clear that it has to be consumed only after adding hot water and allowing the hot water to settle in the container for at least eight minutes. After adding hot water and after the prescribed eight minutes, the 61 grams of RTE food becomes 220-230 gm approximately. This detail is conveniently left out in the viral video which seems to have some vested interest," Railway authorities have alleged.