Halfway through his meal, passenger finds metal piece. IRCTC penalises caterer

A passenger confronted catering staff after finding a metal piece in his dal aboard the Guwahati-Okha Dwarka Express. IRCTC penalised the contractor and de-rostered the staff involved.A passenger found a metal piece in his train meal. (Photos: @amitawasth30825/x)New Delhi,Nov 11, 2026 15:38 ISTA passenger aboard the Guwahati-Okha Dwarka Express raised a food safety complaint after finding a metal fragment in his dal, having already eaten half the meal. His viral X post prompted the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to impose a penalty on the catering contractor and de-roster the staff involved.The incident was shared by a passenger named Amit Awasthi, who posted a video showing the foreign object he had found in his food.Holding it up to the camera, he pointed out that he had already consumed a considerable portion of the meal before spotting it.“Look at what I found in my dal. I have already eaten half the food,” he said. Awasthi then said the catering staff had suggested that the fragment could have come from a metal scrubber used to clean utensils.“I am worried that I may have ingested this. They are saying it’s part of the scrub that is used for washing utensils,” he said, urging IRCTC to look into the quality of food served to passengers. A second video offered a glimpse of the exchange between Awasthi and the onboard catering staff. A staff member, while apologising for the incident, explained that the object was possibly a piece of a utensil-cleaning scrubber.“Sir vo bartan manjhne wala hai. Vo fass gaya hoga” (Sir, that is used for washing utensils. It must have got stuck in the food), the employee said.The staff member offered to bring Awasthi another meal and also proposed a refund. However, the passenger turned down both offers, making it clear that he intended to raise a formal complaint with the Railways instead.See the post:15636 150 irctc IRCTC please @IRCTCofficial @RailwaySeva @AshwiniVaishnaw https://t.co/U8bhucqCjf— amit awasthi (@amitawasth30825) November 10, 2026Following the complaint and the videos circulating on X, IRCTC responded to Awasthi's post, confirming that disciplinary action had been taken.“The matter was viewed with the utmost seriousness, and a substantial penalty has been imposed on the service provider concerned, along with a strict warning to ensure that such incidents do not recur. Furthermore, the staff involved in [the incident] has been derostered,” they said.IRCTC did not disclose the exact amount charged as a penalty. The incident has once again put the spotlight on food safety and hygiene standards in railway catering, where a lapse can directly affect the health and safety of passengers.- Ends