Centre-state divided over grub trade permit

The (kitchen) knives are out between the Centre and the state government over issuing licence/registration to food businesses in Jharkhand.
According to the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006), any company/vendor/hawker/transporter involved in the grub trade has to seek mandatory licence or registration (as applicable) latest by February 4, 2013.
The Centre's nodal agency for quality control and monitoring ' the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ' has decided to host a daylong camp on FJCCI premises in Ranchi on Saturday (December 22) for spot submission of forms.
The FSSAI even published an advertisement in this regard on Thursday.
However, the state food control department ' authorised to issue licence/registration in Jharkhand ' claims it has no knowledge of any such camp and will not entertain requests for permits on the said occasion.
"We don't have any intimation from the Centre. We should have been informed officially. I came to know through newspapers as you did. Since we were not, we are not technically involved with the camp," state food controller T.P. Burnwal said.
Admitting that licensing and registration was necessary for quality control of food being sold in the market, Burnwal claimed his department had already started doing so over a month ago. "Till November 21, we approximately registered 2,035 firms and issued around 803 licences. We will continue with our business and are not concerned with the camp," he added.
Manoj Naredi ' the former FJCCI president who has been made nodal officer by FSSAI to facilitate the licensing process ' said he was not sure what the state's gripe was.
"The camp is happening and it has been divided into two parts. The first half will generate awareness, while the latter will invite requests for spot registration/licence. The authority for final issuance, however, lies with the state if the business is small and with the Centre if it is big. The jobs are defined and we fail to understand why the state department should have a problem," he added.
Those in the know claim the sole reason why the department is unhappy is that the FSSAI roping in FJCCI blocks the commission bounty.
"Hefty sums are involved as officials extort food vendors in the name of issuing licence/registration. That is where the itch is. With the FJCCI involved, food inspectors and other officials may not get a chance to interact with independent vendors directly," said a trader, requesting anonymity.
The normal rate of acquiring licence/registration depends on the turnover.
For vendors, cart owners, food manufacturer, retail outlet owners, transporters, et al, whose annual turnover is less than Rs 12 lakh, the registration fee is a paltry Rs 100.
The cost of licence for small traders (turnover between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 25 lakh) is Rs 2,000. Big traders pay Rs 3,000, while manufacturers (Rs 25 lakh and above) cough up Rs 5,000. Giant firms, which manufacture and also maintain depot/stocks under the same brand name, are required to fork out Rs 7,500.