Stalls sell unauthorised food items at railway station

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 25

Verka and Amul stalls located on the platforms of the Bathinda junction are selling unauthorised food items right under the eyes of the authorities.

The company stalls are authorised only to sell their own products and water bottles of the Rail Neer brand.

However, aiming to make some extra profit, the vendors of these stalls are selling patties, cold drinks, snacks and tea.

Sources said it was a common thing at the railway station as contractors of these stalls first get tenders at nominal prices and then began selling food items, which were locally prepared.

As per information, the Bathinda railway station has five stalls of Verka and Amul.

Of these while two are owned by Verka, three are owned and given out on rent by Amul.

In the absence of any kind of checks by the authorities, the vendors sell everything from cold-drinks to street snacks like samosa and rolls.

While these stalls are minting through such means, owners of other stalls are not happy with this.

“They are authorised to sell only company products but they are selling books and cold drinks, which is not allowed. By selling other food items, they are eating into our business,” said a vendor of another stall at the junction.

The working of railway officials has also come under the scanner as the railway authorities have failed to take strict action against the vendors running these stalls.

Officials at the Verka Milk plant, Bathinda, said it was not the company’s responsibility to take stock of these stalls as their functioning was managed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

The officials said the company supplied food items to IRCTC, which in turn dealt with the vendors at the railway stations.

These vendors were served notices by the railway authorities for selling non-branded items about two years ago.

They were also warned that if the practice continued, strict action would be taken against the vendors.

Despite the warning, the sale of unauthorised food items is going on unabated.

Commercial market inspector (CMI) MR Khan said they had issued notices to the vendors of Amul and Verka stalls and had told them that if they did not stop the sale of unauthorised food items, strict action would be taken against them.

Meanwhile, station superintendent Ram Swaroop Meena said he would get the company stalls inspected and in case the vendors of these stalls were found selling unauthorised food items, the railway authorities would take action.