Contractor fined ₹5 lakh for shoddy service

Mumbai: Days after female students from Jammu and Kashmir travelling in Gyanodaya Express complained of a poorly organised stay in Mumbai, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has levied a ₹5 lakh fine on the contractor

Mumbai: Days after female students from Jammu and Kashmir travelling in Gyanodaya Express complained of a poorly organised stay in Mumbai, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has levied a ₹5 lakh fine on the contractor. IRCTC staff who were responsible for the tour have also been transferred, said sources.

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Officials said the contractor has been penalised for making shoddy arrangements towards accommodation of 700 students who arrived in Mumbai on November 24. As reported by HT, around 500 female students from this group were accommodated in a hotel in Aarey, where the rooms were smelly and unclean, bedsheets stained, and corridors not lit adequately. There was a power cut in the hotel as well and the students had their dinner using torchlights on their mobile phones.

“More action may be taken against the contractor. We are also contemplating necessary preventive measures to avoid such incidents in future,” said a railway official.

The Gyanodaya Express was flagged off on November 19, and passed through multiple cities before arriving in Mumbai. It completed its journey in the first week of December. Students who were on board were draws from 10 different universities in Jammu and Kashmir, and they travelled in a special 9-car non-AC sleeper train. The railways was paid over ₹4 crore for the service.