Railway committee gives station a miss
Standing panel on railways arrives in city to look into catering service; visits Gandhi Ashram, BRTS control room. But what about Kalupur railway station? Your guess is as good as ours
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, May 24, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20110524201105240232272438af19ec2/Railway-committee-gives-station-a-miss.html)
Have you always been served unpalatable food at the Ahmedabad railway station? Pile the blame on a committee formed to look into railway food but did not think it necessary to visit the station before deciding on ways to improve service.
The members of the Standing Committee on Railways seemed to prefer the cool interiors of a five-star hotel they were staying in, than the hot and humid base kitchen at Kalupur station.
Eight of the 13-member Standing Committee on Railways arrived in Ahmedabad on Monday. They were accompanied by their secretaries; two of them had even carted along their family members.
During their day-long visit, the committee scheduled in visits to the Gandhi Ashram, Kankaria Lake and even the control room for the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) at Usmanpura. Yet, they could not pencil in half-an-hour to visit the railway station, merely seven kilometres away from the Sabarmati Ashram.
Preparing for visit
Senior officials, including the divisional railway manager, of the Ahmedabad division have been on their toes for the past 10 days, readying for the visit. Two days ago, a 10-member team of senior Western Railway officials from Mumbai came down to supervise the preparation at Kalupur station.
A higher official, seeking anonymity, said, “Railway committees visit stations before making decision. Last month, a railway convention committee arrived to look into the facilities, basic amenities, security, cleanliness and so on provided to passengers at the station. They spoke to passengers to figure out the problems they face. This helps them take decisions that benefit the public. We expected the same from this committee.”
Taken to task
A railway caterer said, “Cooking at stations was disallowed a long time ago. Railway authorities had built a base kitchen a little away from the main building. We were supposed to cook there and carry the food to be served inside the station. However, this was not put into practice. Two days ago, the officials took us to task. They forced us to stop cooking inside the station and would inspect the facilities every hour in anticipation of the committee’s visit.”
He added, “Janta khana — puri, sabzi and achar for Rs 10 — was to be served compulsorily at all stations according to the railway board. It was never sold at Ahmedabad station till two days ago. Now, every stall offers janta khana.”
Official presentation
The committee did not visit the station but they did not give the discussion a miss. They got Kulbushan — general manager of Central Railways acting as in-charge of Western Railway — to give an hour-long presentation on ‘New Catering Policy’ at the hotel’s conference room. When the meeting got over, the committee and its entourage departed for Gandhi Ashram. “There, AMC officials took charge of the team as they wanted to visit BRTS and Kankaria which are looked after by the corporation. Realising then that the panel won’t be visiting the station, we breathed a sigh of relief,” said a railway official.
Wasting public money
Committee chairman MP Somabhai Patel said, “Our job is to visit stations and talk to people to check out problems. We decide on which place needs extra trains, if food quality needs to be improved and other facilities that a station must have. On Monday, we discussed what Gujarat needs. On Tuesday, we leave for Bangalore. From there, we will go to Goa.”
Yogesh Mishra, general secretary of Rail Users’ Association, deemed this an exercise in farce. “The stalls overcharge for food. Yet, the food is unpalatable. Things are still better on platform 1 but if you visit the other platforms, the stall owners charge a bomb. The base kitchen was constructed one and a half years ago but has not been put into use. The committee should have visited the station and spoken to passengers to find out what really goes on there. Instead they went to Usmanpura. What has the BRTS got to do with the railways?”
He added, “What was the point of their visit? Nine people came down and stayed in a five-star hotel. The government spent Rs 6 lakh approximately on their plane tickets and hotel stay. If they never intended to visit the station, they should have called an official to Delhi to make the presentation. This would have been cheaper any day.”
What a trip!
Here are names of eight of the 13-members came to Ahmedabad for a visit
Lok Sabha members : Kalindi Lal Bhairwa, Kamleshwar Baitha, K Bapi Raju, Dr Botcha Jhansi Lakshmi, Sombhai K Patel Uma Shankar Singh,
Rajya Sabha members : Ambeth Rajan, Ishwar Singh,
Five Lok Sabha officials :
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, May 24, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20110524201105240232272438af19ec2/Railway-committee-gives-station-a-miss.html)
Have you always been served unpalatable food at the Ahmedabad railway station? Pile the blame on a committee formed to look into railway food but did not think it necessary to visit the station before deciding on ways to improve service.
The members of the Standing Committee on Railways seemed to prefer the cool interiors of a five-star hotel they were staying in, than the hot and humid base kitchen at Kalupur station.
Eight of the 13-member Standing Committee on Railways arrived in Ahmedabad on Monday. They were accompanied by their secretaries; two of them had even carted along their family members.
During their day-long visit, the committee scheduled in visits to the Gandhi Ashram, Kankaria Lake and even the control room for the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) at Usmanpura. Yet, they could not pencil in half-an-hour to visit the railway station, merely seven kilometres away from the Sabarmati Ashram.
Preparing for visit
Senior officials, including the divisional railway manager, of the Ahmedabad division have been on their toes for the past 10 days, readying for the visit. Two days ago, a 10-member team of senior Western Railway officials from Mumbai came down to supervise the preparation at Kalupur station.
A higher official, seeking anonymity, said, “Railway committees visit stations before making decision. Last month, a railway convention committee arrived to look into the facilities, basic amenities, security, cleanliness and so on provided to passengers at the station. They spoke to passengers to figure out the problems they face. This helps them take decisions that benefit the public. We expected the same from this committee.”
Taken to task
A railway caterer said, “Cooking at stations was disallowed a long time ago. Railway authorities had built a base kitchen a little away from the main building. We were supposed to cook there and carry the food to be served inside the station. However, this was not put into practice. Two days ago, the officials took us to task. They forced us to stop cooking inside the station and would inspect the facilities every hour in anticipation of the committee’s visit.”
He added, “Janta khana — puri, sabzi and achar for Rs 10 — was to be served compulsorily at all stations according to the railway board. It was never sold at Ahmedabad station till two days ago. Now, every stall offers janta khana.”
Official presentation
The committee did not visit the station but they did not give the discussion a miss. They got Kulbushan — general manager of Central Railways acting as in-charge of Western Railway — to give an hour-long presentation on ‘New Catering Policy’ at the hotel’s conference room. When the meeting got over, the committee and its entourage departed for Gandhi Ashram. “There, AMC officials took charge of the team as they wanted to visit BRTS and Kankaria which are looked after by the corporation. Realising then that the panel won’t be visiting the station, we breathed a sigh of relief,” said a railway official.
Wasting public money
Committee chairman MP Somabhai Patel said, “Our job is to visit stations and talk to people to check out problems. We decide on which place needs extra trains, if food quality needs to be improved and other facilities that a station must have. On Monday, we discussed what Gujarat needs. On Tuesday, we leave for Bangalore. From there, we will go to Goa.”
Yogesh Mishra, general secretary of Rail Users’ Association, deemed this an exercise in farce. “The stalls overcharge for food. Yet, the food is unpalatable. Things are still better on platform 1 but if you visit the other platforms, the stall owners charge a bomb. The base kitchen was constructed one and a half years ago but has not been put into use. The committee should have visited the station and spoken to passengers to find out what really goes on there. Instead they went to Usmanpura. What has the BRTS got to do with the railways?”
He added, “What was the point of their visit? Nine people came down and stayed in a five-star hotel. The government spent Rs 6 lakh approximately on their plane tickets and hotel stay. If they never intended to visit the station, they should have called an official to Delhi to make the presentation. This would have been cheaper any day.”
What a trip!
Here are names of eight of the 13-members came to Ahmedabad for a visit
Lok Sabha members : Kalindi Lal Bhairwa, Kamleshwar Baitha, K Bapi Raju, Dr Botcha Jhansi Lakshmi, Sombhai K Patel Uma Shankar Singh,
Rajya Sabha members : Ambeth Rajan, Ishwar Singh,
Five Lok Sabha officials :
