Food safety officers to be rotated on a daily basis

In a major initiative to check corruption and Inspector Raj, the Delhi government will depute ‘safety officers’ on a daily basis that too without prior information. These officers are deployed to regulate Food Business Operators (FBOs) in the city who have food related business like restaurants, eateries and hotels. The government has also decided to introduce online process for licensing, registration, renewal and fee deposit.

“The department has taken steps to end the “Inspector Raj” by ending the practice of posting food safety officers to specific areas for long duration. To check growth of any nexus between inspecting offers and the trading community, the officers are now assigned areas on a daily basis, without prior information,” said a senior officer of the Drug Control and Food Safety Department, Delhi government. The government has also introduced online payment system for licensing and registration for FBOs to eliminate delay in collection of fees and simplify processes for applicants as well.

Presently, an entrepreneur willing to operate an eatery or hotel is required to get license from the Delhi government then from the concerned MCD. “We are also going to make online process for licensing, renewal and fee deposit. It will soon be presented before the standing committee for approval,” said Shaileder Singh, Chairperson of Standing Committee in South MCD. According to officers in Delhi government and MCD, the actual number of eateries in Delhi is more than those registered with them.

Besides, the government has also decided to train food vendors so that people could get clean, wholesome and unadulterated food. The government has undertaken the training and education of 23,000 street food vendors in the first phase. “The trained vendors will be issued certificates and skill cards,” informed the officer. The department is also planning the next phase of this programme in which some 1, 80,000 vendors will undergo training and education on hygiene and other issues. “The FBOs will now be asked to pay fee and fines through cheques,” he added. The department has also cancelled licences of 14 medical stores situated in Mahinder Park, Chaukhandi and Chand Nagar to curb the sale of habit-forming drugs in Delhi. “We have also unearthed an unlicensed godown with large stocks of Buprenorphine, a habit-forming drug,” said the officer.