No hands to ensure food safety measures

At a time when the World Health Organisation has set food safety as the theme for this year’s World Health Day, the Food Safety Commissioner in the State is struggling with severe manpower shortage.

Of the 155 posts in the State, only 63 are occupied. Of this, eight people in the department would retire from service, bringing down the team to almost one-third its strength.

Senior officers in the department told The Hindu that the government has not yet notified the vacancies. As the whole process of recruiting new candidates is expected to take at least two years, the government had sought to retain old hands. Though it came out with an order on August 27, 2014, to retain some of the senior staff on contract, only about five were retained.

Vacancy notification, recruitment through the public service commission and training for at least six months to get them working for the department is said to take about two years. However, the most understated aspect in the process is that the government has not set up a training institute, said an official.

Though the State has analytical laboratories-Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode-how much they are able to contribute towards public awareness and building food safety measures is uncertain. Two more laboratories in Palakkad and Pathanamthitta have also been proposed. Pathanamthitta currently has a makeshift lab that functions during the Sabarimala season. Over a year ago, the High Court had directed the setting up of a lab in Palakkad, which would serve as first check point for food safety in the State.

Tug-o-war for power

The Food Safety and Health departments are yet to work hand in hand when it comes to implementing food safety measures. While the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 had rested all the legal powers with the Food Safety Commissioner’s office, the frequent health department raids on eateries is seen by the hoteliers as the means with which the government keeps the public happy. The Health department is not vested with legal powers to act upon food safety issues , said the Food Safety department.