Mar 16, 2018

Closure of cafeteria: GTech lauds CM’s intervention

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after the cabinet decided to replace Veena N Madhavan from the post of food safety commissioner, Group of Technology Companies (GTech), the industry body of IT companies in the state, lauded the government’s intervention in handling the difficult situation that followed food safety department closing down the dry pantry of an IT company at Technopark.
On Wednesday, food safety officers reopened the cafeteria at the IT firm Thoughtline functioning in phase III campus of Technopark. The area was sealed on Friday citing that the company did not have a license to operate the facility.
“The swift corrective action by the government, especially by the office of the chief minister, has sent out a positive message to the industry. This will restore the confidence of existing companies with regard to the government’s commitment towards ensuring an environment best suited for businesses,” said GTech chairman K Nandakumar.
Office bearers of GTech had met the CM earlier this week and apprised him on the action by the food safety officers.
Sources said that CM took a decision to replace Madhavan after she refused to attend a meeting convened by health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan with GTech office bearers and CEO of Thoughtline on Wednesday. The cabinet appointed M G Rajamanickam as the new food safety commissioner.
“The space closed down was a dry pantry. Nobody cooks or sells food there. Employees used this space to eat food they brought from home or outside. The manner in which the inspection was conducted and arbitrary closure of the facility did not go well with the business environment Technopark provides. Timely intervention by the departments of IT and health ensured corrective steps,” said GTech secretary P Vijay Kumar.
“Listing the IT company among eateries that the department claimed to have found working in unhygienic conditions, and publishing that in the media, was most unfortunate. Claims of company personnel obstructing the duty of food safety officers and holding them hostage were false. We were able to convince the government by handing-over supporting CCTV visuals,” he added.
Founding CEO of Technopark G Vijayaraghavan and IBS chief V K Mathews also praised the government for its intervention.

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