If we find alien objects that are not expected to be present in our Biriyani, we immediately call the food inspector to complain. We, who crave for immediate action, do not however spend a moment to think whether the official has time to comply with our demands. It would surprise many that officials dealing in food safety do not have vehicles to travel or even a good place to sit and work. This is the situation for some while many state officials have no work to justify the salaries they receive from the government.
In spite of the severe restrictions, the officials have collected samples from 6000 places, took legal proceedings against 700 people and curbed the activities of many who were habitual criminals with respect to food safety in the past 1.5 years. Why is the government turning a blind eye to the department which should be protecting the health of the citizen?
The Food Safety Department previously functioned as the Food Health Authority under the Health Department until 2009. It was transformed into a separate department with 14 District Food Inspectors, 60 Circle Food Inspectors, three Regional Vigilance Squads and three analytical laboratories. Later, 22 food inspectors were transferred to the department from municipalities.
When a person died in Thiruvananthapuram following food poisoning, the government became aware of the shortage of staff in the department and decided to create 57 new Food Safety Officer positions. However, none has been appointed yet. After 1986, not even a single person has been appointed anew for food safety in the state. Out of the 155 positions, 80 continue to be vacant!
The food safety officer has one peon and a clerk as subordinates, which is in fact too less for a position that has to cover a lot of area to check food samples. In addition to its current role, the department has been piled with new responsibilities such as licensing and associated procedures, which includes site visits. Acute shortage of staff is taxing employees who are finding it hard to cope. Currently, one person has to manage sampling of food items, sealing it, checking shops and then going to the court for follow up procedures. Out of the 140 circles, only 60 have a peon and a clerk. Recommendations by the Personnel and Administrative Reforms officials and requests submitted by the Commissioner are all waiting at the Finance Department for approval.
The headquarters of the department in the state capital is a modified officer's quarters. One of the four rooms is reserved for the Commissioner and another one is kept free for the Joint Commissioner. Other employees are packed in whichever ways they can in the remaining space. There are not even enough toilets for the employees.
While the Commissioner has been asked to hire taxis for official trips, officials in the 140 circles and 14 districts have only four vehicles. Worse, only half of the circles have offices.
The workload however is quite high. Officials become busier when people venture out to eat. Therefore during festival days, the already taxed officials have to deal with a huge workload.
While a toll-free number was provided to people to contact officials for registering complaints, there was none to attend the phone and finally someone was hired to attend the calls during office hours. However, none seems to hear the complaints of the department.