Kerala Vande Bharat commuters left with no other option than North Indian food, complaints pile up

Pathanamthitta: There is growing discontent over the  North Indian food that is being served in the Vande Bharat Express running in Kerala. The catering contracts are given to North Indians, for the daily train which runs on the stretch between Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod.

Malayalees are mostly dissatisfied with the food that is being served for lunch and dinner. The package includes a small quantity of ‘ponni’ rice, and two chapatis. Ponni variety of rice is mostly not preferred by Keralites. In non-veg curry, all one can find is two small pieces of chicken. In the vegetable menu, dal (parippu) and paneer are the main attractions, which are obviously not the first preferences of people from Kerala. While ‘Upma’ is being served as breakfast to vegetarians, bread, and omelet are given for breakfast to those who opt for non-vegetarian food. Undercooked green peas and carrots served in the morning have also irked the passengers. The responsibility for issuing food contracts lies with IRCTC.

People can opt for their ‘choice’ of food while booking tickets. 80 percent of the Vande Bharat passengers in Kerala buy tickets which include food packages. Every executive passenger in Vande Bharat which starts from Thiruvananthapuram shells out Rs 434 for food, economy class passengers in the same train spend Rs 379 (per person) on food.

Meanwhile, in the Vande Bharat Express train which starts its journey from Kasaragod, Rs 369 is charged from every executive passenger who opts for food, the price in economy class is fixed at Rs 308.

“Vande Bharat Express is a ‘hit’ among passengers in Kerala. Most of the trips run at full capacity. In such a scenario, it is morally incorrect to force North Indian food on passengers who spend a lot of money on their tickets,” said Thrissur Railway Passengers' Association general secretary, P Krishnakumar.