Few vendors in Ahmedabad want FSSA licences

The Centre’s deadline for registration of food joints in Ahmedabad under Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSA) is nearing, but the civic body has not been able to get many vendors to register themselves. In view of their callousness, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has decided to aggressively work on registrations this week onwards.
It was in August 2011 that the central government had implemented FSSA. The civic body was then given time till August 2012 to complete the registration for licences for all food vendors in the city. Interestingly, under Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, around 7,000 vendors were registered earlier. With the implementation of FSSA, a total of around 35,000 food vendors have to be registered, out of which just 4,000 have been registered.
Medical officer of health in AMC Dr Suhas Kulkarni stated that going by the norms of the new Act, many more food vendors have to be registered. “Under the new Act, there is a provision for issuing licences for businesses with annual turnover of more than Rs12 lakh, and registering vendors having turnover of less than Rs12 lakh per annum.” Hence, wholesalers, retailers, those in catering business, small shop as well as tea stall owners will also have to be registered under the new Act.
A health official of AMC stated, “Though we carried out sessions with vendors, many of them have not got themselves registered yet. We will strengthen our drive and ensure they get registered.”
Till now, AMC has conducted sessions for hotels and restaurants in the city and also approached vendors at places like Law Garden, Manek Chowk, Kankaria etc.
The hotels/restaurants and fast food outlets were registered with AMC under PFA Act. But with the implementation of FSSA by the Centre, it has become compulsory for all food vendors to get themselves registered.
The fewer registrations have sent the alarm bells ringing for AMC which will intensify its checks and raids. Talking more about it, Kulkarni stated that after August, AMC will get stricter in its checks and charge heavy penalty from those who do not have new licences.
While AMC continues to cry itself hoarse, most vendors are not bothered about having a new licence or even getting registered under the new Act. A sweet corn vendor in Vastrapur stated, “After working for an entire day, I start my stall around 8 pm and shut shop around 11 pm. Where do I have the time to get a licence made?” A health official stated that under FSSA Act, all the street food vendors need to be registered. This will ensure they maintain the quality of the food they sell.