Food served in BMC canteen lacks quality ? That's what Shiv Sena leaders think

Shiv Sena group leader Vishakha Raut says food in civic headquarters' canteen not upto mark; wants "IRCTC-quality" nosh

Shiv Sena corporators are fed up of vegetarian meals, chicken, fish, biryani and snacks such as vada pav, samosas etc, served at the canteen in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters.

The group leader of Sena, Vishakha Raut, has written to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta demanding good quality food, as she says the food currently served there is not upto the mark. She wants "Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) quality" food served there.

Vishakha Raut, Sena group leader

Really, IRCTC quality?
While the richest civic body in the country has been focusing on several e-governance models, the food served in its canteen had been criticised for years. Interestingly, the corporators' idea of good quality food is also something that has faced lot of flak over the years. IRCTC has been in a controversy in the past with travellers complaining of bad quality food. Last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had reported to the parliament about flies, insects, dust, rats and cockroaches found in trains and in the food items being sold to train travellers.

The ruling party in the BMC, however, seems unaware of these issues and has demanded that there be better, "IRCTC" quality food in the canteen, as several corporators suffer from diabetes. They feel IRCTC quality food will improve BMC standards. Raut has written asking the BMC to consider engaging an organisation such as IRCTC to run the canteen.

Snacks and leaders
Raut said, "The corporators want better quality snacks during corporation meetings and the food served in the BMC canteen is not of good quality. It is also oily. Many of our corporators have diabetes and need to eat healthy every few hours which is not possible with this canteen. It will really be a good move if we could engage IRCTC type organisations to run this canteen to improve our food standards."

Need new contractor
Asif Zakaria, Congress corporator, said, "This demand by the Sena is utter rubbish. They want an organisation which itself needs improvement, to provide better quality food. The administration should definitely think about hiring a new contractor who could provide better snacks to us, but not give in to Sena's demand." A civic official said, "The municipal commissioner's office has received the letter and we will check what can be done in this case."

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