At present, over 11 crore households consisting of 53 crore beneficiaries are being allocated highly subsidised foodgrains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) at Rs 2 per kg wheat and Rs 3 per kg rice, it said.
Computerisation and use of technological device at ration shops to authenticate beneficiaries has helped delete 61.43 lakh bogus, duplicate or ineligible ration cards in last two years, thus stopping diversion and misuse of foodgrains in the PDS system amounting to about Rs 4,200 crore, it added.
The NFSA came into force in July 2013. In the first ten months, 11 states/UTs had started implementation covering about 7 crore households, while 14 more states rolled out NFSA in the last six months, the ministry said.
"Implementation in some of the states was started hurriedly without completing all the requisite preparations. Consequently problems were faced. Uttarakhand had to roll back the implementation and Bihar also faced initial problems in distribution," it added.
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In the statement, the Centre said 17 states/UTs gain in terms of quantity of foodgrains allocation under the food law compared to previous PDS system. However, a provision has been made for remaining states to protect their average annual offtake of foodgrains.
For successful implementation of the Act, the government said stress is being laid on end-to-end computerisation for which states are being technically and financially assisted.
The beneficiary database has been digitised in 33 states/ UTs, wherein, information is available right up to beneficiary level and is in the public domain.
To ensure leakage-free distribution of foodgrains, food subsidy is being tranferred in cash into the bank account of beneficiaries in Chandigarh and Puducherry on a pilot basis.
Some items like the Arabic Mezze platter, deserts like
Rasmalai have been a constant because the customers have asked for them, says Chef Batra.
Another unique strategy adopted to keep customers happy has been changing the menu in accordance with different festivals or even specific menus for specific region.
It included regional delicacies such as Kolkata fish fry with Bengali style chicken chop with potato wedges besides Radhaballavi, a Bengali specialty of lentil stuffed fried bread served with dry spicy potato curry and beetroot cutlet with desserts like Chanar Payesh, cottage cheese dumplings in flavoured milk.
The next custom menu for the upcoming Eid, from July 6 to 7, and will offer dishes like mutton biryani, kebabs and more.
"Customer feedback has also influenced the way food has been served on the airlines. The use of plastic cutlery was reduced to minimum with biodegradable materials being implemented," says Pathak.
"A 'step-down' box for the economy class, like a 'gift box' will be presented as a whole to the passenger. It is designed to be simple for both the passenger and the crew," said Gladys Chia the general manager of cabin services, Vistara.
"The design allows the crew to focus on the customer and not the tray where they would have to arrange the food. The design and details adds to the service we give to the customers," she says.