Gurgaon: Days after a TOI report highlighted an acute shortage of food safety officers (FSOs) in Haryana — Gurgaon lacked a dedicated officer, and the state had only five field officers against 45 sanctioned posts — Haryana Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has ordered the temporary deputation of 22 officers across the state to strengthen surveillance ahead of the festival season.Under an order issued by FDA Haryana commissioner, Gurgaon has been assigned two dedicated officers: Dr Manoj Kumar, a veterinary surgeon, as FSO Gurgaon-I, and Dr Deepak, also a veterinary surgeon, as FSO Gurgaon-II. The postings will remain effective for 180 days or until regular incumbents join, whichever is earlier, with no additional remuneration for the officers deputed.Gurgaon is among several districts receiving two dedicated officers. Panchkula has been assigned Shammi Gahlot as FSO Panchkula-I and Dr Rambir Singh Thakan as FSO Panchkula-II, while Sonipat has been assigned Virender as FSO Sonipat-I and Salinder Singh as FSO Sonipat-II.Several other districts have been given a single primary officer holding dual charge of both sub-divisions (I and II): Ambala, Kaithal, Fatehabad, Bhiwani, Palwal, Yamunanagar, Nuh, Sirsa, Narnaul, Charkhi Dadri, Jind, Panipat and Rohtak.“These officers have been temporarily posted to strengthen food safety enforcement. They will continue to discharge the additional responsibility until regular FSOs are appointed and join their respective posts,” an FDA official said.To bridge the statewide deficit, FDA has drawn personnel from other departments, including agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and education. Key assignments include Shashi Kant (block agriculture officer) as FSO Ambala-I with additional charge of Ambala-II; Satish Kumar (technical assistant) as FSO Hisar-II; Abhishek (ADO) as FSO Kaithal-I with additional charge of Kaithal-II; Ravi Kumar (technical assistant) as FSO Fatehabad-I with additional charge of Fatehabad-II; Sushil Kumar (ADO) as FSO Bhiwani-I with additional charge of Bhiwani-II; and Inder Pal (technical assistant) as FSO Faridabad-I.Further postings cover the remaining districts: Ishwar Kumar as FSO Palwal-I (additional charge Palwal-II), Gulab Singh as FSO Yamunanagar-I (additional charge Yamunanagar-II), Dr Ashwani Kumar at Faridabad-II, Dr Vikas Jaglan at Nuh-I (additional charge Nuh-II), Dr Sunil Bishnoi at Sirsa-I (additional charge Sirsa-II), Dr Amit Kumar at Narnaul-I (additional charge Narnaul-II), Dr Ravinder Dabas at Charkhi Dadri-I (additional charge Charkhi Dadri-II), Dr Aman Prakash Dhaka at Jind-I (additional charge Jind-II), Dr Vikram Pachisia at Panipat-I (additional charge Panipat-II), and Laxmi Narwal, PGT (chemistry), as FSO Rohtak-I (additional charge Rohtak-II).Copies of the order have been sent to top health officials, line department heads and treasury officers to update HRMS records and ensure swift enforcement.The deputation follows a prolonged shortfall on the ground. Of Haryana’s 45 sanctioned FSO posts, 27 had been filled on deputation, according to the food department, but 11 of those officers were awaiting posting and another 11 — who completed on-the-job training on Aug 19 — were awaiting FSSAI certification before they could be notified. This had effectively left only five FSOs actively in the field, posted at Hisar, Rewari, Jhajjar, Kurukshetra and Karnal, each also holding additional charge of neighbouring districts without an FSO. In Gurgaon’s case, the FSO from Rewari had been handling five districts in all — Rewari, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Nuh and Sonipat.Haryana health minister Aarti Singh Rao said the demand to fill all 45 posts had been sent to Haryana Public Service Commission on Aug 12, with the regular recruitment process expected to be completed within about a year. Until then, officers had been given additional charge to ensure inspections continued. She added that Rationalisation Commission had recommended increasing the sanctioned strength of food safety officers in Gurgaon and other parts of the state.Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, Haryana collected 14,211 food samples, of which 11,486 met prescribed standards while 2,725 — about 19% — failed to meet the required standards.
