Pune: State food and drugs administration minister Narhari Zirwal on Thursday admitted in the assembly that his department lacked proactiveness in taking action against the online food delivery service providers allegedly supplying items surpassing the expiry date, citing shortage of manpower. “We have recruited new staff recently. They are undergoing a training programme. Once they start their duties, all offices of the department would be told to be more proactive and check (the food quality of) these service providers without waiting for any complaints,” Zirwal said in the assembly.MLAs from Pune had raised the issue in the House. They pointed out that the food and drugs administration (FDA) department had not taken any initiative to check the malpractice.BJP MLA from Khadakwasla Bhimrao Tapkir cited a complaint registered with the FDA last year and said, “The trend of ordering food items online is growing, particularly in big cities. But the FDA does not have the mechanism to check the quality and expirydate of those food items. It acts only after some consumer logs a complaint.”Tapkir demanded the FDA to be proactive in conducting checks and taking action against the online food delivery service providers found supplying sub-standard items.BJP MLA from Shivajinagar Siddharth Shirole raised the issue of lack of inspection of storage places by the FDA. “Ordering online food is quite common in bigger cities. These food items are stored in godowns, but the administration does not check these facilities frequently. If these checks are conducted on a regular basis, the delivery of sub-standard food items can be curbed,” Shirole said.Responding to Shirole’s question, Zirwal said the FDA would initiate meetings of elected representatives in various cities to discuss the issue in detail. The state would also take the central govt’s help in monitoring the food delivery services.
