Only 9 employees on job to test food items J&K consumes

90 of sanctioned 200 posts in JK Food Control Organisation vacant; it took department 3 months to warn public about bad quality of pulses in market recently

Only a fraction of food items in the markets of the Valley is tested for quality and adulteration currently because the Drug and Food Control Organisation is working at nearly half its staff strength.

Documents accessed by Greater Kashmir reveal the food wing of the Organisation has a sanctioned strength of 202 posts. But 90 of these are vacant, including the important posts of food analysts (FAs) and food safety officers (FSOs).

Three of the four posts of FAs and all six positions of assistant food analysts are vacant. A food analyst supervises food quality tests and also decides on what tests to be carried out and also their timing.

There is a single laboratory technician for the entire state against the sanctioned eight posts.

Currently, all quality tests for both Kashmir and Jammu divisions is carried out by nine employees—1 food analyst, 1 senior lab technician, 1 lab technician, 2 lab assistants and 4 lab attendants—at the two food testing laboratories, Patoli (Jammu) and Dalgate (Srinagar).

The situation in the field is no better. As many as 36 posts of Food Safety Officers, who are tasked with market checks and lifting food samples for testing besides other activities, have also been lying vacant. Hence, markets largely go unchecked.

At the higher level, the post of Commissioner Food Safety and two posts of Assistant Commissioner Food Safety (ACFS) too haven’t been filled for more than a year now, though the ACFS posts were advertised by the Public Service Commission in April last year.

The charge of Commissioner Food Safety has been given as an additional task to Commissioner Health and Medical Education.

In March last year, Greater Kashmir had carried a series of reports about the status of food safety in Kashmir, which prompted the High Court to take Suo-Moto cognizance of the issue concerning public health. Hearing the case, on May 24 this year, the Court directed the government to fully equip food testing laboratories and provide manpower to mobile testing vans in the state.

The division bench of Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey also directed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to depute a qualified person to these laboratories to find out whether they fulfill the requirements under Food Safety and Standards Act.

Although, following the High Court intervention, the government allotted funds to the department and ordered procurement of advanced equipments for food testing and quality control, the shortage of the manpower has defeated the purpose.

The official said orders for procurement of machines worth Rs 6.75 crores have already been placed through J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Limited.

“But the shortage of manpower is defeating the entire initiative,” said the official.

During the financial year 2016-17, about 1485 samples of food items were lifted in Kashmir division (including Ladakh) and reports of 1311 samples were furnished. Of these, 254 samples were found sub-standard.

Last week, the organization issued advisory regarding “unsafe” pulses available in market. These samples, as per officials, had been lifted in March 2017 when 4970 kilograms of pulses were seized from Srinagar markets.

Although, the Food Safety and Standards Act mandates that the test report be furnished within 15 days of the sample’s receipt at the lab, it took the department three months to prepare the report and issue the advisory because of the shortage of staff.

Controller Food and Drugs Lotika Khajuria said all vacant posts have been referred to recruiting agencies.

“The matter (of recruitment) is not in my jurisdiction,” she said.

Chairperson JK Service Selection Board Sarita Chauhan said her department “is ready” to carry out the recruitment.

“We are trying to find a suitable date for conducting the exams for these posts. As soon as we find a date that does not clash with any other exam we will notify it,” she said.