On Wednesday, a passenger on-board Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express allegedly found dead lizard in his vegetable biryani. He reportedly fell ill and later tweeted to Union Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu after which the authorities promised action.

The incident is an addition to a list of cases where Indian Railways has come in news for serving poor quality food. 

Here are some of the recent cases:

• In July this year, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report confirmed that the food served by the Railways is unfit for human consumption. The audit report on railway catering till March 2016, stated that the catering services keep food in open that get infested with flies, insects, rats and cockroaches.
• In March 2017, six passengers travelling on the New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express were taken ill after eating “stale food” served on the air-conditioned train, leading to protests by passengers at two stations. This was supported by Union Minister and Asansol MP Babul Supriyo who said that food and service quality on Rajdhani “utterly disappointing” at times.

• In May 2016, passengers on Ernakulam-Kolkata Duronto Express raised a complaint after they allegedly saw a pantry car official using water from the toilet taps to prepare tomato soup. The agitated passengers sent a written complaint to the station master at Kozhikode railway station who promised action, reports India Today.
• In August 2014, Railways imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on IRCTC after a cockroach was found in the food on Kolkata Rajdhani, reports PTI.
• In January 2013, a Gujarat family which was travelling in Sarvodaya Express was served ‘rat biryani’. The family which was returning from a pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu & Kashmir found cooked rat in the vegetable biryani they had ordered, reports The Times of India.

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