Dec 22, 2012

Food Safety


Some bigwigs at the Srinagar Municipal Corporation obviously deem themselves beholden to powerful politicians representing lobbies and mafias rather than responsible for citizens and the interests of their well-being. In at least a couple of incidents in recent months, food inspection teams have been upbraided for imposing fines on commercial establishments with political connections. A prominent and high-profile hotel, found stocking large quantities of stale and mouldy food items, got off the hook, perhaps by a single telephone call to some minister, and the inspection team did not know what hit it, its members left ruing the day they decided to do their duty conscientiously. These were matters which made it to the public ken, inevitably through the media. There is no guessing what other nefarious goings-on characterise the working of the SMC which had been turned into a money-minting machine - in addition to selectively overlooking massive food adulteration in lieu of monetary gratification at the highest levels - due to its authority to permit and sanction constructions big and small. Though it is not relevant to the subject at hand, the massive violations of the so-called Srinagar Master Plan, serve as an indicator of how deeply some top figures in the Municipality are in league and nexus with the politician-and-ill-gotten-big-money syndicates. Such lucrative enterprises and postings cannot sustain unless their murky proceeds are channelized to the very top of the political and the bureaucratic spectrum.

In the most recent case indicating how food safety offenders have protection from the highest levels of the government, special inspection teams set up in distress by the SMC health officer have been grounded by the joint commissioner of the municipality on the pretext that the health officer had stepped beyond jurisdiction. That the health officer in question had felt compelled to set up another squad within one month of a previous one being shut down speaks, on the one hand, of the magnitude of the food safety crisis in the city, and on the other, of the ineffectualness of the SMCs conventional mechanisms and their compromised nature. The same health officer had to go through a harrowing time at the hands of an individual at the very top of the state’s political executive for initiating action against a dairy producer marketing sub-standard milk. Earlier this year, a damning central report revealed that over seventy per cent of Kashmir’s milk supply was heavily adulterated. After weeks of foaming at the mouth about ”taking serious note” of the issue and “taking strict action” against those found responsible, the government finally came out with the big news that it would approach the central agency for the identities of the adulterating dairy companies. (This was precisely timed with arguments appearing in these columns that instead of its mendacious hemming-and-hawing, the government should take such a step, and rather, should have taken it just when the report surfaced.) Since then nothing has been heard, either from the government, or from the section of the media it used to peddle its lies, about the identities of the adulterating companies or action taken against them. Need one say more?

Dinamalar


Dinakaran


Provisions of Food Safety Act not being adhered

NL Correspondent
Jammu, Dec. 21:
Though the High Court had directed the state government and civil authorities to submit regular about the quality of food being served to the people by restaurants and eating joints, but it is not being adhered properly.
It has already been decided to put ban on the issuance or renewal of the licence without production of the fitness certificate to ensure that the these food sellers, regardless of the safety precautions they take at work, undergo a mandatory medical examination for ratifying their physical fitness in order to pursue their trade.
Government of India's Food Act 2006 stipulates that hygiene should be given priority when food is served to the people. Numbers of applications were presently pending with the authorities due to lack of the required certificate.
Samples has to be collected from small retailer, road side food vendors, hawkers, stall holders, cottage industries relating to food business, meat/mutton/poultry business operators with the slaughtering capacity of two larger animals or 10 small animals or 50 poultry birds per day.
Now the Drug and Food Control Organisation has directed all the agencies to submit the reports before it within two days so that the same could be submitted to the High Court.
Court had passed the direction after a PIL filed by social activists.
It is pertinent to mention here that people who come under direct contact with food have to demonstrate "fitness for work" certificate following concern shown by the many NGOs and government agencies that people are getting low quality and unhygienic food in the city.
When contacted Commissioner of Food Safety (Jammu), Satish Gupta said that they have directed all the concerned agencies to submit their details and reports prepared immediately. "We have directed all civic agencies not to delay submission of reports further and they should adhere to the norms", Gupta said.
As per Commissioner Food Safety, all food business operators were directed to renew their existing licenses, registration granted under the repealed Food Act/Order under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 and Food Safety & Standards (Licensing & Regulation of Food Business) Regulations, 2011.



Dinamalar