Railways fine vending contractor Rs 1 lakh after video suggests toilet water mixed in tea, coffee

The Railways slapped a vending contractor with a fine of Rs 1 lakh after a video, which went viral, suggested that water from a train toilet was mixed to prepare tea and coffee, the South Central Railway (SCR) told PTI. In the video, which has been widely circulated on social media, a vendor is seen coming out of a train toilet with tea and coffee cans. When he is challenged by one of the passengers, the vendor denies any wrongdoing. The incident is said to have been recorded onboard Chennai Central-Hyderabad Charminar Express at Secunderabad railway station in December last year. “An inquiry was conducted, and on the basis of it stringent action has been taken up against the Train Side Vending contractor for the section between Secunderabad and Kazipet, P Sivaprasad, with whom the identified vendor in the video was employed……A penalty of Rs 1 lakh has been levied on the licensee, through the IRCTC, the contracting agency,” SCR Chief Public Relations Officer M Umashankar Kumar said in the release. Kumar also said that the two persons seen in the video are unauthorised hawkers. Both the hawkers and many others have been removed from the Secunderabad railway station during an ongoing drive against unauthorised hawking, Kumar added. Railways officials are on a strict vigil in order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, he said. Source: Indian Express