KOCHI:The state government’s decision to shut down 418 bars for not maintaining the stipulated standards may have won applause from different quarters, but questions arise as to how many hotels, restaurants and eateries have been closed for not adhering to the food safety norms? Though the Food and Safety Wing of the civic bodies all over the state have been carrying out raids and inspections, none of the eateries and hotels that have been booked for serving stale food and having unhygienic premises were shut down permanently.
It is very disturbing to note that the authorities wake up from their slumber only when a tragedy strikes. Raids are carried out only when an incident of food poisoning happens or complaints are registered.
Citizens are left wondering as to why the law imposed by the government on the bars is not applicable to the eateries and restaurants as well. The situation is very disturbing because these hotels and restaurants which are booked for violating the food safety norms easily escape from the repercussions by paying a meager amount of fine.
“If the government can undertake strict actions against bars, why is it so lax against eateries. After all, bars are not a place where everyone frequents unlike restaurants. If the government can readily close down the bars they should also take responsibility to close down the hotels and restaurants which are not keeping the premises clean and hygienic,” says Radhakrishnan, a retired government employee at Fort Kochi.
According to Ajith Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Food and Safety, the shortage of staff is affecting the functioning of the department. “Our primary task is to inspect the quality of food being served in eateries. In the district, there is acute shortage of staff and resources. But, we try to conduct regular checks with available resources.
An amount of over Rs 9 lakh was levied as compound fee from eateries that had failed to maintain the stipulations,” said the official.
When contacted, the District Medical Officer Dr Beena said that the inspections are a combined effort of the Food and Safety Department, the Health Department and Local Self Government bodies.
“Our role in raids are limited to inspecting the sanitary facilities at restaurants. We have absolutely no role in taking actions. It is the responsibility of the civic bodies and Food and Safety Department to take action against erring eateries. Unless the Food Safety Act is amended wherein we are given more responsibility, there is little we can do in this regard,” said the DMO.
Even seasoned foodies will think twice before eating anything if they see the place where the food that they so relish is prepared. In most of the hotels the kitchens are located very close to the latrines.
Just a look at the filthy floors, dirty dish-washing area and toilet facilities is enough to flip the guts of any sane person.
Though the hotel owners have been provided with a list of 30 parameters, that too written in Malayalam, to be followed in their establishments they hardly bother to follow them. These parameters just remain on the yellowing paper stuffed in some remote recess of their drawers.
The authorities wait for an incident to happen to take action. When the shawarma issue shook the state, the authorities took a belated action to close down the unhygienic shawarma centres.
However, these centres have reopened and the conditions in which they are being operated are nothing different from what it had been earlier. The official drives have miserably failed.
Earlier the Ernakulam District Administration had put forth a plan to grade the hotels based on the infrastructure facilities available. But that got dropped after the hotel and restaurant association strongly protested against it.
“Grading of hotels is just an eye wash. The street vendors are the once who prepare their fare in unhygienic condition. They are the ones who need to be made aware. Business is their sole purpose as they pay thousands to the officials to get their space. To ensure hygiene we have already formed a committee across the state. The committee will monitor the sale of food and hygiene conditions,” said Jose Mohan, state president Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association.
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