Vishwas Dass
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: The Jan Ahaar outlet, an initiative by the Railways to provide low-cost meals to passengers at the city railway station, has seemingly failed in its objective as only eight items are available of over the 27 items listed on the menu.
Ironically, the Jan Ahaar outlet which is on the first floor of the Bhubaneswar railway station is unable to attract many customers whereas an air-conditioned food chain eatery on the ground floor, expensive in comparison to Jan Ahaar, is getting a much better response.
This reporter found that not only were the air-conditioners inside the Jan Ahaar outlet dysfunctional, there was also an utter disregard for hygiene.
A staffer of the outlet said the limited offerings were due to lack of patronage as passengers were mostly failing to identify the location of the outlet because of poor publicity.
The outlet was earlier run by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) but nearly one-and-a-half years back, Khurda Road division took charge of running Jan Ahaar.
The items which are being sold at Jan Ahaar are — Idili (Rs 7), Bara (Rs 9.50), Janta Meal (Rs 15), veg meal (Rs 35), egg meal (Rs 40), chicken-rice meal (Rs 62), fish-rice (Rs 64) and bread omelette (Rs 30).
In contrast, Jan Ahaar’s menu has over 27 items listed, namely aaloo chop, pao ghuguni, plain dosa, masala dosa, paneer pakora, standard veg/non-veg breakfast, samosa, veg noodles with schezwan sauce, sambhar rice with papad/pickle, tomato soup and milk among others.
“There is a small board of Jan Ahaar indicating the outlet is on the first floor but it is hard to spot due to which people are usually unable to notice its presence,” a passenger Bikram Pradhan said.
Another passenger Preetirani Samantray lamented the East Coast Railway’s inability to turn the Jan Ahaar into a profitable venture. She said because of issues such as lack of space, lack of hygiene and less number of items on the menu, people prefer to visit the private food outlet instead on platform one.
“If there is an issue with publicity, adequate steps would be taken to increase publicity for the outlet. We will also look into the aspect of reduced items being available and we will give top priority to hygiene and providing food at affordable prices,” ECoR spokesperson JP Mishra said.