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Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
Kerala passengers top in buying non-veg breakfast in VB
Thiruvananthapuram: People who travel by Vande Bharat in Kerala top the list in buying non-veg breakfasts compared to other Vande Bharat trains operated by Southern Railway. On May 31, 411 non-veg breakfasts were served on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod VB and 398 on the Mangalore-Thiruvananthapuram VB. MGR Chennai Central-Mysuru VB comes third with 197 orders. Tirunelveli-Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat sold 173 non-veg breakfasts while Coimbatore-Chennai Central sold 77, and MGR Chennai Central-Vijayawada sold 46. Food is often selected by the passenger when booking tickets and is included in the ticket cost. The previous day, Nagercoil-Chennai topped the list with 240 non-veg breakfasts. Chennai-Vijayawada sold the least number of non-veg breakfasts at 35. The statistics show the preference for non-veg in Kerala and also on the southern route from Chennai. A non-veg breakfast is preferred over a veg breakfast because it's mostly bread toast and an omelette, which people consider to be better than idly and sambar or roti. Sources said that most people who start the trip from the originating station buy breakfast from the train because the departure is too early. Nevertheless, some people bring their food as it will help reduce the cost of the ticket. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like They Lost Their Money - Learn From Their Lesson Expertinspector Click Here Undo People depend on railway food onboard because the train has automatic doors, and it's impossible to buy food when the train halts at stations. P Krishnakumar of the Thrissur Passengers Association said that the number of breakfasts is lower when compared to the seats of the train because everyone will not travel from the originating station. "In Kerala, most of the people use the train to travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Kottayam, Thrissur, and Ernakulam and do not travel all the way to Kasaragod or from Mangalore to Thiruvananthapuram," he said. There is also a concern that the food given is not suitable for the Kerala palate. The recent busting of a railway contractor's central kitchen where food was being prepared in an unhygienic way caused a lot of concern among the travellers. Krishnakumar said it's unlikely that Vande Bharat passengers would try to cut back on food to save money as most of its passengers are those who previously travelled by car. Food prepared very early is loaded into the trains before departure. The staff heat the food before serving it. However, the quality of taste is still an issue Railways are struggling to deal with. With the Railways gearing up to launch Vande Bharat sleeper trains from Thiruvananthapuram to Bengaluru, passengers demad improvement in quality of food.
Time of India
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Kerala high court upholds rule mandating technical qualification for Joint RTO posts
Kochi: Kerala high court has upheld the Kerala Transport Service (Amendment) Special Rules, 2022, which prescribe a technical qualification — a diploma in automobile or mechanical engineering — for appointment to the post of joint regional transport officer (Joint RTO). A bench of Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and P Krishnakumar dismissed a batch of petitions filed by junior superintendents, head clerks and senior clerks in the motor vehicles department challenging the amendment. Appointment to the post of Joint RTO is by promotion from motor vehicle inspectors or by transfer from senior superintendents or junior accounts officers. The petitioners contended that the technical qualification would adversely affect their scope for the post. They further argued that, since the Motor Vehicles Act is a central legislation, only the central govt is competent to prescribe qualifications for officers in the department. They relied on Section 213(4) of the Act, which they claimed limits such powers to the Centre. They also submitted that the amendment would result in stagnation, as most officers in the feeder categories do not possess the newly required qualifications. The state govt, however, argued that the central govt has not prescribed any technical qualification for the post of Joint RTO and, in the absence of such prescription, it is empowered to specify qualifications under its rule-making authority. Accepting this stance, the court held that Section 213(4) is merely enabling. It ruled that the state govt is competent to prescribe qualifications unless and until the central govt issues contrary norms.
