Old food adulteration cases to be dropped? A questionable action

A million dollar question that may pose some problem to government of India pertains to the thousands of food adulteration cases pending before various judicial courts through out the country. This issue became a hot potato to the new government in Delhi when trader associations filed a plea with the Prime Minister's Office to dismiss all such cases immediately since the present food quality and safety laws have replaced the old ones prevailing between 1956 and 2012. But is it ethical for the government to direct the judiciary to ignore such cases, some of them pending for decades, when prosecutions were initiated based on laboratory evidence? A crime does not become a crime just because the law has been slightly tweaked! The new Food Safety and Standards Act has inherited all the liabilities and assets of erstwhile Prevention of Food adulteration Act 1954 and therefore a crime committed then cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Here is a take on this issue which makes a funny reading.  .

"Considering the plea submitted by the Chandigarh chapter of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) regarding withdrawal of cases registered under the erstwhile Prevention of food adulteration Act (PFAA), 1954, the Prime Minister Office (PMO) has directed the Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) to take appropriate action. A significant number of cases were registered against traders under the erstwhile PFAA and are pending in various courts across the country. According to CAIT (Chandigarh) President Harish Garg, many of these cases are as old as 20 years and are still in the initial stages. "Now with the PFAA being replaced by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, all the cases registered under the previous Act have no relevance. Highlighting the problems faced by traders, I had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that all such cases should be compounded because there is no merit to continue these cases after the replacement of the Act." Garg said the PMO has considered the issue sympathetically and directed the FSSAI to take appropriate actions. The move will help traders carry out their businesses in a smooth manner. Garg also said earlier the issue was also taken up by the Central office of CAIT with former Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, urging him to evolve a "compounding of offences". Alternatively, if compounding of cases is not feasible, then "fast-track court or arbitration or reconciliation proceedings may be initiated, to clear all the pending cases".

What is appalling is that the PMO has unwittingly played into the hands of this lobby which is spearheading the campaign to withdraw these cases by directing the FSSAI to take action in the matter. It is not clear whether PMO has directed FSSAI to withdraw these cases or to just process their plea appropriately as per the law? No doubt the judiciary has to take some blame for this sorry situation because of its delaying procedures compounded by ruthless lawyers who try to prolong the cases as much as possible. Is it not a joke that some of the accused parties in such cases do not even live to day because of repeated adjournments and prevarications by the clever lawyers which drags such cases for decades deliberately serving the cause of those being prosecuted!

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com

http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

NIGHT TIME EATERIES-THE CHANDIGARH VENTURE

Road side vending is often liked by many people because of the taste of foods served, their cost and open environment. But a major criticism against street foods or road side vending is the inadequate hygiene, unsatisfactory sanitary environment and indifferent quality and quantity of water available, making the foods some what unsafe on many occasions. Added to this, in countries like India where roads are never cleaned the polluted environment poses another threat to the health of the patrons who frequent such places. With basic facilities for hand washing, public toilets and other essential ingredients of an eatery absent, street foods can pose serious threat to the population in the long run. Many efforts in the past to institutionalize the street food vending system with a view to protect the livelihood of the entrepreneurs and modernize the food preparations and serving methods have not made any lasting impact on this micro enterprise sector in any meaningful way. Here is the story of such an effort in the city of Chandigarh which makes a sad reading!

"Launched with much fanfare by municipal corporation after taking inspiration from Lahore, the night-food street of Chandigarh has lost its sheen as majority of families prefer not to visit the place. Since most people going there have to wait for food, they prefer sitting inside their vehicles. They end up consuming liquor and smoking openly. Plenty of brawls and incidents of eve-teasing have also been reported from the area during night. All that has almost made the city lose. The taste for reasonably priced, hygienic food that the street was originally provided has also skyrocketed as compared to the beginning and even basic facilities are not available nearby".

Why not India learn a lesson from the Food Truck phenomenon in the US where there are thousands of mobile catering units, working successfully in different urban areas meeting the food needs of millions of people without any major complaints. Of course a truck can be expensive to procure but it has better mobility and more space for installing a functional kitchen with all mandatory requirements for a modern eatery. Some efforts in the past by well meaning people to put in efforts to modernize the push cart mode of food vending have not yielded the desired result. The food court model where vendors are provided with minimum facilities for cooking and serving are working satisfactorily in many Asian countries under the vigilance of local municipal health authorities but why the Chandigarh experiment is facing the problems as reported, must be critically examined. If the problems are successfully addressed, it can go a long way in benefiting the whole country through establishment of centralized food courts in hundreds of towns and cities where there are unorganized road side vendors doing brisk business under unsatisfactory conditions.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com