Hiring celebrity chef, improving kitchens to match five-star standards: ITDC's plan for Parliament canteen

With the responsibility of running the Parliament canteen handed over to it, the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is planning to hire a celebrity chef to improve the quality and expand the varieties of food being provided to Members of Parliament (MPs), Hindustan Times has reported.

The chef selected for this job has worked for five years with the President of India and is reportedly internationally recognised, the report said citing unnamed officials.

However, officials did not disclose the name of the chef.

"There will be a gradual change in the service," it quoted an official as saying, adding that the ITDC would be starting operations with around 125-150 people, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will limit itself to serve tea, coffee, and packaged snacks for now. Full operations, officials said, are expected to start around the time of the next Budget session.

"The sweeping changes will be in the service done for sit-down meeting, such as that of the Prime Minister with the Council of Ministers, joint parliamentary committee meetings, conferences, and hosting of foreign delegations," the official said.

A second official told the newspaper that at this stage, ITDC is looking to improve the kitchens to match five-star hotel standards.

"We have to wait and see what all the secretariat approves. But we would like to offer them a wide variety of teas, coffees, cappuccinos, decafs," the first official said.

Last week, the Northern Railway, which has been providing catering services in Parliament for the past 52 years, received a communique from the Lok Sabha secretariat asking it to vacate the premises and recall its staff by November 15 since the operations were being handed over to the ITDC.