Metal scrubber bit found in dal on Guwahati-Okha train; IRCTC fines caterer

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has penalised a catering contractor and taken onboard staff off duty after a passenger on the Guwahati-Okha Dwarka Express found what appeared to be a piece of a metal utensil scrubber in his dal.

The passenger, Amit Awasthi, posted videos of the incident on X on Tuesday, November 10, tagging Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, IRCTC and the RailwaySeva grievance handle. The clips spread widely on Wednesday and were reported by several national outlets, including The Economic Times, India Today and Moneycontrol.

What the passenger says happened

According to his post, Awasthi had bought a Rs 150 thali from the train's pantry service on train number 15636. In one video he holds up a small silver-coloured fragment and says he found it only after eating about half of the meal.

He said he was worried he might have swallowed part of the metal and wanted to be checked at a hospital. He also called on IRCTC to look into the quality and hygiene of food served on trains.

In a second clip, a member of the catering staff can be heard apologising and suggesting that the object was probably a bit of the steel scrubber used to scour utensils, which may have got stuck in the food. The staff member offered him a fresh meal and a refund. Awasthi turned down both and said he would file a formal complaint with the Railways instead.

No independent test of the fragment has been reported, and it is not yet confirmed how it ended up in the food.

IRCTC: 'substantial penalty' and staff de-rostered

Replying to the passenger on X, IRCTC said it had treated the matter with the utmost seriousness. The corporation said a substantial penalty had been imposed on the service provider, the contractor had been given a strict warning to make sure it does not happen again, and the staff involved had been de-rostered, meaning they have been removed from their duty roster.

IRCTC did not say how much the penalty was, or whether any further action, such as a review of the contract, would follow.

A long-distance link out of the Northeast

The Dwarka Express is one of the longest-running trains connecting Guwahati with western India, running across the country to Okha in Gujarat. It carries large numbers of students, workers and pilgrims from Assam and the wider Northeast, many of whom depend on onboard pantry meals during a journey of more than two days.

Passengers with complaints about food quality on trains can raise them through the RailMadad app and website or the railway helpline 139, which the Railways says are monitored round the clock.

The incident comes on the same day that the Northeast Frontier Railway is dealing with the derailment of the Kolkata-Sairang Express at Digaru near Guwahati, which has put rail safety and service standards in the region in the spotlight.