New Delhi, May 4 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today directed the Railways Ministry to form a committee with Delhi High Court Bar Association President, Secretary and petitioner advocate Varun Goswami to suggest the ways for improvement of quality of food supplied in the running trains.

A division bench headed by Justice M K Sharma asked the Ministry and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) to study the allegations in the petition by the committee and file a status report in four weeks.

The Committee with some officials of the Ministry and IRCTC would suggest the means to improve the quality of food supplied by the private catering agencies in 235 running trains, the court said.

On April 28, Mr Goswami had filed a PIL seeking direction to the Ministry of Railways to modernise and sanitise their base kitchens, which supplied the food for the passengers.

The Petition has sought the direction of the court for immediate and appropriate steps to modernise kitchens and other food manufacturing facilities of the Indian Railways.

The conditions in the base kitchens and other food preparation units of the Railways are highly deplorable, unhygienic and pathetic, alleged the petition.

Making the Secretary Railways Ministry, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd and others as respondents, the petitioner said, ''They are accountable and answerable to the public at a large for their gross carelessness by providing unhygienic food to the travellers.'' By completely neglecting hygiene in their facilities, the Indian Railways was exposing lakhs of passengers everyday to health hazard, said the petition.

UNI PAT HS VC1806