From
Wednesday, most eateries in Patna will function illegally.
After
the extended nationwide deadline to get licence under the Food Safety and
Standards Act, 2006, ended on Tuesday, the city is left with joints that are
improper to serve food to connoisseurs.
According
to sources, the eatery count across the state runs into lakhs but until
Tuesday, only 8,000 licences were sought and around 17,000 registrations have
been approved.
“The
figures are not even five per cent of the total food business across Bihar,”
said Ashish Kumar, the designated officer in the state food safety authority,
Bihar.
The
officer, however, did not have the exact number of entities — vendors, hawkers
and transporters — engaged in the food business directly or indirectly.
Unregistered
or unlicensed eateries mean no assurance of cleanliness, hygiene and proper
quality of ingredients in the food we eat. Licence is for bigger firms, while
registration is for smaller firms.
The
Food Safety and Standards Regulations — the tool for implementation of the Act
— was notified on August 5, 2011. An initial deadline of a year was given to
the establishments to register.
The
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) — the Centre’s nodal
agency for quality control and monitoring — extended the deadline from August
4, 2012, to February 4, 2013, and again to February 4 this year.
Senior
officers in the health department, under which the state food safety authority
falls, blamed the numerous extensions for the low rate of registration/licensing
in the state.
“The
government kept on extending the deadline as a result people did not take it
seriously. Lack of awareness about the Act is also a reason behind low turnout
of vendors for licence,” said an officer of the health department.
The
fee for acquiring the licence depends on the turnover. For vendors, retail
outlet owners, cart owners and transporters among others, whose annual turnover
is less than Rs 12 lakh, the registration fee is meagre Rs 100.
For
those establishments, whose annual income is between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 25 lakh,
the licence fee is Rs 2,000. Traders above this bracket have to pay Rs 3,000.
Manufacturers with turnover of Rs 25 lakh and above have to shell out Rs 5,000,
while giant companies, which manufacture and also maintain food depot/stocks
under the same brand name, are required to pay Rs 7,500.
Sources
said the bigger food units are cautious about getting the licence but the major
shortfall in this regard is the small vendors.
“I
sell chowmein and egg roll on a small cart and I don’t know anything about any
licence or registration. No one has ever asked me to apply for registration,”
said Rajesh Kumar, a fast food vendor at Kadamkuan.
Not
only private but government food units also come under the ambit of this Act.
Mid-day
meal centres in government schools under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Anganwadi
centres under Integrated Child Development Services are also required to obtain
licences. However, the status is disappointing in these centres as well.
Manpower
shortage has always been an issue.
“The
State Food Safety Authority suffers from acute staff crunch. There are no food
inspectors with us. A proposal has been made for creation of posts for food
safety officers and more designated officers in the authority,” said the health
department official.
So
now what? Would all unlicensed and unregistered food units would be pronounced
illegal and punitive actions would be initiated against them. No. Things are
most likely to remain status quo.
“There
numbers are very high. We cannot take punitive action against lakhs of food
vendors all of a sudden. However, they would definitely not be legal anymore
and we would take action according to instructions from the department,” said
Ashish.
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