The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has imposed a substantial fine on a catering service provider after a passenger found a piece of metal scrubber in his dal aboard the Guwahati-Okha Dwarka Express.

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The incident came to light after passenger Amit Awasthi shared a video on X showing the silver-coloured metal piece in his food. He said he had already eaten half the meal before noticing the object and expressed concern that he might have swallowed some of it.

In the video, Awasthi held up the metal piece and questioned the quality of food being served on trains. He also said the catering staff had told him that it could have come from a scrubber used to wash utensils.

A separate video shared by the passenger showed a member of the catering staff explaining that the metal fragment was likely from a utensil-cleaning scrub pad. The staff member apologised and offered to replace the meal or refund the money. However, Awasthi declined both offers and said he would take up the matter with the Railways.

Responding to the complaint on X, IRCTC said it had taken the incident seriously and imposed a substantial penalty on the service provider responsible for catering on the train.

The railway catering body also said the staff involved had been removed from duty (derostered) and issued a strict warning to the service provider to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The incident has once again raised concerns over food quality and hygiene standards in meals served to passengers on trains.