IRCTC Delists Juice Brand After Former Rail Minister Dinesh Trivedi Complains of Contamination

New Delhi: The catering wing of Indian Railways, IRCTC, delisted a juice brand after former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi complained that he was served a contaminated drink onboard a premium train.

Trivedi was travelling on board the Kathgodam-Delhi Shatabdi on Dussehra, when he was served lemon juice of a well-known brand. On opening the can, he found filth floating at the bottom, which he showed to CNN-News18.

IRCTC spokesperson Siddharth Singh said the railways has reacted to Trivedi's complaint swiftly and delisted the brand pending laboratory investigation. “We have delisted the agency pending lab investigation. The brand will not be seen any more on any train for the time being,” he said.

In the video of the incident recorded by CNN-News18, Trivedi showed the dirty lime juice served to him. “Today is Dussehra. I just opened the lime water and see what I found inside. Have a look at it. This is what we are supposed to drink,” he said in the video, as he displayed the juice pack with grime at its base.

He rued the fact that fares have been hiked so much but even then clean water is not available on trains. Slamming the BJP government at the Centre, he said the people must protest against the poor facilities or they will continue to suffer.

“The IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation) really needs to pull up its socks. The railways needs to put in checks and balances so that there is some accountability of its subsidiary departments," Trivedi said.

This incident comes months after a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which revealed glaring lapses in rail catering services.

Trivedi said the rail minister could not be blamed for such lapses as the departments need to be held accountable. "Action must be taken against the caterer as well as the brand concerned. How can this 'kachra' be allowed to be served on trains? There should be an inspection at the factory where the juice was produced to see under what circumstances the drink was being churned out," he said.

The TMC leader, who quit as the railway minister in 2012 after a controversy over his recommendation for the formation of a rail regulator to hike fares, said there must be surprise checks on vendors contracted by the national transporter.