IRCTC’s Navratri treat for Indian Railways passengers! Fasting for the 9-day Navratri period? fasting while travelling can be a harrowing experience, especially when undertaking a long train journey. But this time, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has come up with a welcome initiative of offering ‘Navratri special’ food to Indian Railways passengers. According to IRCTC, the option of Navratri special fast food will be available through its e-catering website, ecatering.irctc.co.in or on the ‘Food on Track’ app.
IRCTC is making the Navratri special meals available through some select restaurants. To begin with, IRCTC is making the option of the Navratri special meal available on select stations. These are; Nagpur, Ambala, Jaipur, Itarsi, Jhansi, Nasik, Ratlam, Daund, Mathura, Nizamuddin and Lucknow. Indian Railways passengers will have to pre-order the navratri special food at least 2 hours before the scheduled journey time. The booking of food will require a valid PNR number.
Keeping in mind preferences of devotees during Navratri festival for a ‘satvik diet’, IRCTC will make food items available that will be made of sabudana, kuttu ka atta, specified vegetables and sendha namak will be used. The food items that will be offered may include items such as fruit chat, sabudana khichdi, Navratri thali and lassi. Railway passengers can pay for the food while booking or even on delivery of the food items.
IRCTC has been revamping its menu options to focus on quality of food rather than quantity. Additionally, recently a Railway Board order has allowed IRCTC stalls on railway stations to also sell food on platforms. To avoid vendors from overcharging for food items on trains, IRCTC recently launched its ‘Menu on Rails’ app and website, which lists the MRP (Maximum Retail Price) of all food items. Indian Railways is also making use of Point-Of-Sale machines and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has asked passengers not to pay for food on trains if the vendor does not provide a bill.