979 ration shops operating without FDA registration

PUNE: Of the 1,800 ration shops in the district, 979 shops are operating without obtaining the mandatory licence or registration from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), said Shashikant Kekare, joint commissioner of FDA, Pune.

Of the total, as many as 800 ration shops are in the city, whereas the remaining shops are located in the rural parts of Pune. Kekare said ever since the new Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Rules and Regulations 2011 came into force from August 2011, about 747 ration shops in Pune district have sought registration, whereas 74 ration shops have applied for licences from the FDA.

Under the new Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, food business operators with an annual turnover of Rs 12 lakh and above have been directed to apply for licences. Those with a lesser annual turnover are required to register with the FDA.

"We often organize camps for ration shop owners, where they can apply for licences or register with the FDA easily. Most of them have sought fair price shop licence. Efforts are on to motivate others to get themselves registered as soon as possible," said Jyoti Kadam, district supply officer of Pune.

As per the conservative estimates, there are around 15 lakh food business operators in the state. FDA grants licences and registrations to big hoteliers, small canteens, roadside vendors, wholesalers, retailers, stockists and people selling food-item sellers including groceries as per their turnover.

The act ensures

* Prevention of fraudulent, deceptive or unfair trade practices which may mislead or harm the consumer

* Prevention of unsafe, contaminated or sub-standard food being used

* Regulation of manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food items to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption

Public distribution system

* Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the joint responsibility of the Union and state/union territory (UT) governments

* The Union government is responsible for procurement, allocation and transportation of food grains to the designated depots of the Food Corporation of India

* The operational responsibilities for lifting and distributing the allocated food grains within the state/UT governments. They are also suppose to identify families below poverty line (BPL), issue ration cards to them and supervise distribution of allocated food grains to eligible card-holders through the fair price shops (FPS).

* The total number of fair price shops in the country as reported by states/union territories (UTs) up to 2011 are 5.05 lakh. Of the total, 50,555 ration shops are in Maharashtra