uttarakhandnews1.blogspot.in
The Uttarakhand Government does not look interested in tackling the
menace of food adulteration. This is the inference that can be drawn from the
State Government’s attitude toward the ‘food safety department.’ In fact, there
is no proper “department” in the real sense of the word. There is only one Food
Safety Officer (FSO) in the State Capital Dehradun who is single-handedly responsible
for collection of samples and sending them to laboratories for testing and
that’s all. What’s more, the officer has to pay for the samples from his own
pocket and has to bear the other expenses, too, like transportation of samples
etc.
The Food Safety Act has been in effect since August 5, 2011 all over the
country. The Central Government notified the State Government way back in 2009
to restructure its food safety department so that it can effectively work
according to the new guidelines. But almost three years after that, all the
department has is a single Food Safety Officer who has to double up as a porter
to carry the samples collected by him apart from doing all the clerical work as
well. This officer has no assistant, no vehicle, and no security. The officer
has to pay for all the expenses from his own pocket, including the
transportation of the samples to the labs and other places. The Government
reimburses the money later, but like any other sarkari process, this one too is
very slow.
For the uninitiated, the collection of sample is a tedious process. It
requires filling up of a dozen and a half papers and sealing the samples on the
spot. At least four samples have to be purchased by the officer and sealed on
the spot in the presence of two independent witnesses. Many shopkeepers do not
give the samples willingly and try to lure or threaten the FSO. After that
begins the filling of form 5A (4 copies to be filled), form 6A (7 copies to be
filled) and later panchnama — the complete details of the sample, shopkeeper,
officer along with date, time and place. At present all this is done by a
single person in Dehradun.
A few things are so expensive that they are beyond the purchasing power
of an FSO in the stipulated quantity. For example silver foils (at least 8 gram
required) and saffron (80 gram needed for 4 samples). Besides, an FSO is
required to send at least 12 different samples to the laboratory in a month. In
these circumstances, how effective the checking of food adulteration is can be
easily gauged.
