The Indian Railways has been in the spotlight recently due to passenger concerns. These concerns have been amplified by social media, with videos highlighting issues like cleanliness, overcrowding, and delays going viral. This has led to reputational challenges for the department.
Adding to recent passenger concerns, a video emerged on the ‘Indian Railways’ subreddit in June 2024. The video showed a passenger’s disappointment upon discovering a cockroach in their IRCTC-ordered vegetable thali. The passenger had been looking forward to a simple meal, but their excitement turned to disgust when they found the unwelcome guest in their gulab jamun.
The user wrote a caption that reads, “For the first time, I ordered dinner from IRCTC, and this is what I got: a living cockroach.”
Watch the video here:
Cockroach in food
byu/Aggravating-Wrap-266 inindianrailways
This video, like others, highlights issues such as cleanliness and delays, adding to the reputational hurdles confronting the Indian Railways. The video swiftly garnered attention, with Reddit users writing witty remarks in the comment section, as evident from the numerous upvotes received.
“One user jokingly commented that this cockroach will add more protein value to the food, “Crunchy protein-rich diet,” commented a user.
“That’s why I don’t eat anything that is cooked in railways or stations. Either I take my own food or I just buy packaged snacks. I will fast for the day if I don’t have anything,” wrote another user.
“Railways: You can’t complain about it as you have been served expensive non-vegetarian thali that is so fresh that it’s live on the plate,” wrote a third user.
This video, similar to others, makes the reputation problems of Indian Railways worse. It caught the eye of Reddit users who made sarcastic comments.