Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Friday suggested that the Government should itself review the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 to give more teeth to the Food Control Organisation.
During Question Hour, the Speaker urged the Minister Sakina Ittoo that the Government should take the initiative to amend the Act and empower food safety officers.
“You yourself said the Act has weaknesses and officers don’t have powers. You said members should take steps. But members cannot take steps the Government itself should review the Act. If you find that the Act doesn’t have teeth, you can give more powers to food safety officers,” the Speaker said.
“The members can give suggestion which we will incorporate in it,” he said.
Raising the issue during Question Hour, as per KNO, MLA Tangmarg Farooq Ahmad Shah said the main cause of the colon and gastro cancer in Kashmir Valley is the rotten food
He said the Food Control Organisation is a toothless body. “They don’t have powers. The adjudicating authorities are the additional deputy commissioners, but they are busy with their own work. No one is paying attention to this issue,” he said, adding that there should be deterrence to curb food adulteration.
He said that food safety organisation was also grappling with shortage of manpower
“They have officers only in 60 medical blocks, and those officers don’t have subordinate staff. When will they post officers in other medical blocks?” he asked.
MLA Pampore Justice (retd.) Hasnain Masoodi expressed concern over acquittals in food adulteration cases.
“No conviction has been recorded. It means there is problem either with sampling or prosecution,” he said—(KNO)
