Better food on trains, can you believe it?

As per a news, IRCTC has given such assurance to court. Whether IRCTC will fulfill this assurance only time will tell. I have my own doybts. The claims made by IRCTC in their affidavit are so tall that it seems to be an exercise to impress the court without thinking that these claims will have to be turned in to reality.

Two Quality Control Personnel from reputed Hotel management Institutes will travel on each train to listen and to remove public grievances about food quality. The claim also includes stringent controls, better monitoring of food and a menu available to the passengers.. Water poucheswill be replaced with safe bottled water. Please note, it is each train.

On the ground, a astate of art kitchen with specialized equipment, an in-house training cell and new uniforms.

The claim is interestingly silent about installation of any Food Safety Management System as per International Standard ISO 22000.

Delhi Govt continues, so continues blueline buses killing people

Blueline buses have killed 2 more people taking their killing score to 75 in this year. Eight months and 75 kills. Not a bad performance. Add five and it would be 10 killing a months. Delhi CM is there. Her Transport Minister is their. Buses are there. Bus owners and drivers are there. But these 75 people are not there. They were children, young, old, women. Many of them were bread winners of their family.

I wonder how these people are able to sleep. When Hannef was arrested in Australia, PM could not sleep after seeing his crying mother on TV. But he does not loose his sleep when 75 people are killed on Delhi roads by blueline buses operating under license given by Delhi Govt run by his congress party.

Added on 30.08.2007

The toll is 77 now. Blueline buses have killed two more.

I hope PM is sleeping soundly.

Added on 08.09.2007

Yesterday, killing count has reached 79. Not a big deal for Delhi CM or PM.

Public Relation Officer in Regional Passport Office, Delhi

I do not understand why Govt of India has appointed this officer. By its designation, it is assumed that this officer will maintain good relations with those visiting passport office for matters related to passports. On my visit to his office I found that he does not maintain any relation with visitors. People normally visit his office to know the status of their applications for issue, renewal of passports or any other action. They interact with him and come back without any addition to their knowledge about status of their case. He has a stock reply for every question.

You tell him that you submitted your application in Jun, he will reply that applications received in May are being considered.

You tell him that you submitted your application in July, he will reply that applications received in Jun are being considered.

You tell him that their website is not working properly and page to see status of application is not found. He will reply that it does not matter as it will tell only that application is under process. People already know that. After wasting their time when people reach his desk they are told what they already know.

Go down and you will find another post on how passport office harasses people.

Designation of this officer should be Public Harassment Officer (PHO).

Added on 30.08.2007

The PRO told us that applications received in May are under consideration. I visited NIC Website and there I could find link to another site. I visited that and found a link to status of application. It opened and I could see the status. It said that due to unavoidable circumstances passport could not be dispatched, and it will now be dispatched in this week. To whom should I believe, the PRO or the Website.

I wrote to NIC about the problem at RPO Website. They have corrected the problem.

Added on 08.09.2007

Yesterday my son received the renewed passport. But two days before this PRO had told him that applications received in May 2007 were only being processed. Why Govt does not put this man on some other job?

My picture gallery

Monsoon, water shortage and water contamination

Every year it happens. Monsoon comes but water shortage remains as it is. Only addition is threat of water contamination. Delhi Jal Board officials talk about this problem in a manner that you will feel that they are harassed by all this and not responsible for this. Many sewage pipes run parallel to water supply pipes. Most of them are leaking as they are old and rusty. DJB offoicial says that in monsoon mixing of sewage water with drinking water is not an uncommon phenomenon. They are doing their best to solve the problem, and they are doing it for last many years.

Where is Delhi CM one wonders. You can see her on Delhi Govt ads regularly published in newspapers by misusing public money.

Delhi citizens have created a record of being harassed by maximum number of organizations - distcoms, DJB, property tax, heath department, police, auto drivers, blueline buses, thieves, robbers, killers.

Added on 08.09.2007

Monsoon is over. water shortage remains and remains water borne diseases. Govt ads funded by public money continue having photo of Delhi CM.

Sexual harassment at work place

The work place is Delhi University. The victim of sexual harassment is a lady OSD at Gandhi Bhawan. The harasser is its Director Vidyut Chakravarty. More than a month after the inquiry report which is known to have found Vidyut Chakravarty guilty, there has been no action on the part of the university. The person responsible for no action is none other than Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.

Despite stringent rules in place to contain and counter sexual harassment at the work place Delhi University has consistently been in the throes of one controversy or the other. Women teachers and non-teaching staff say that the issue is not regulations, but their non-implementation. It points at DU VC again.

Delhi University has its own Hall of Shame of sexual harassment cases.

Added on 30.08.2007 - Believe it or not

Delhi university Vive-chancellor Deepak Pental has rewarded Bidyut Chakravarty for sexual harassment by nominating him for a prestigious national fellowship. Pental is sleeping over the report which found Vidyut guilty. What message it conveys. Harass women sexually and VC will be happy with you.

Dettol ad - it needs verification

Dettol is advertising on TV that their product is certified by Indian Medical Association (IMA) . But if you visit IMA website, you will not find any details of any third-party product certification scheme. As per information available with me, there is only BIS who operates third-party product certification scheme, under which they allow manufacturers to put ISI mark on their products. BIS officers regularly visit factories of their licensees, check records (kept as per BIS Scheme of Testing & Inspection), test samples in the factory and draw samples for testing in an independent laboratory. in addition to this, BIS officers also purchase samples from the market and get them tested in an independent laboratory.

I don't think that IMA has such infrastructure and expertise to run a third-party product certification scheme. This ad inserted by Dettol certainly need verification.

Delhi citizens are at mercy of auto drivers

Delhi Govt has recently increased auto fares. It was done without consulting the people. Fares were raised just like that. The hike is very steep, but who bothers about the people who are suffering under steep price rise of essential commodities, power and water problems and unsafe Delhi roads. Delhi CM and her transport Minister never travel by autos.

Fares were raised but auto drivers were not even informally advised to improve their behaviour, to not refuse passengers, not to charge more and drive autos in a disciplined manner. Citizens are paying more but still are being harassed by auto drivers. Today I wanted to hire an auto from Vikas Puri to Paschim Puri in west Delhi. Five autos were there but all of them refused. 'Nahin jana hai' they said and continued with their chatting.

Every morning I go to school bus stop with my grand daughter. Nearby there is an unauthorized auto stand. They park their autos in a most irregular manner without bothering about the inconvenience they are causing to people. I see them refusing passengers. Passenger are forced to walk down the road in search of a passing auto, who might agree to take them.

Who is responsible for taming these monsters? Delhi CM and her Transport Minister are busy in getting their photos printed on Ads given by public money.