Vande Bharat Express passenger shares pic of cockroach in meal, IRCTC reacts

A user by the name of Vidit Varshney posted a disturbing photo on the social media platform X about a dead cockroach that was discovered in the food that his uncle and aunt were given on the Vande Bharat Express on June 18 while they were travelling from Bhopal to Agra. Varshney demanded in his post that the food vendor face severe consequences in order to stop incidents like this from happening again. Varshney's post was quickly answered by the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), who apologised for the inconvenience and told him that they had fined the service providers appropriately.

Following Varshney's post, RailwaySeva, the official support handle for train passengers on X, asked him to share his PNR number and mobile number, expressing regret for the unpleasant experience his relatives had had.

Today on 18-06-24 my Uncle and Aunt were travelling from Bhopal to Agra in Vande Bharat.
They got "COCKROACH" in their food from @IRCTCofficial. Please take strict action against the vendor and make sure this would not happen again @RailMinIndia @ AshwiniVaishnaw @RailwaySe pic.twitter.com/Gicaw99I17

— Vidit Varshney (@ViditVarshney1) June 18, 2024

Two days later, the IRCTC's official handle responded to Varshney's post, apologising and assuring him that the matter had been taken seriously, with a penalty imposed on the service provider and increased production and logistics monitoring measures implemented.

This incident is not the first of its kind on the Vande Bharat Express. In a previous case in February 2024, Dr. Keshari shared pictures of a non-vegetarian thali with a visible cockroach, along with a filled-out complaint form addressing the unsanitary condition of the food, at Jabalpur station. These incidents have raised significant concerns about the quality of food served on the Vande Bharat Express.

I was travelling on 1/02/2024 train no. 20173 RKMP to JBP (Vande Bharat Exp)
I was traumatized by seeing dead COCKROACH in the food packet given by them.@narendramodi @AshwiniVaishnaw @drmjabalpur @wc_railway @Central_Railway @RailMinIndia @IRCTCofficial @fssaiindia @MOFPI_GOI pic.twitter.com/YILLixgLzj

— डाॅ. शुभेन्दु केशरी  (@iamdrkeshari) February 2, 2024