Mobile courts against food adulteration

Admittedly, the raids and the random actions taken against the adulterators by these courts have had a positive impact, but our observation is that the evil is too entrenched to be eliminated through seasonal raids.

Food adulteration is a deep-seated social crime influenced by multiple factors. Mere raids against "supply outlets and caterers" will not ensure a change in the culture. We need to keep an effective tab on the entire food supply chain down to the recruitment of manpower in shops and factories from the point of view of public health concerns. On the other hand, the authority vested in these mobile courts is simply inadequate. They cannot by themselves deter the perpetrators from committing the heinous act.

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The government should therefore formulate a comprehensive long-term policy to deal with all such cases of food adulteration. At present the courts are lodging cases under the provisions of multiple acts like Food Act, BSTI Act, Environment Act, so on and so forth. All this is bound to create opportunities for the alleged violators to slip through the conflicting and self-contradictory loopholes of law.

The food authority, DCC, BSTI, environment department and home ministry must put their heads together to have a system in place for a sustainable containment of adulteration. In the meantime, the mobile courts should be empowered to close down operations of defaulters for periods ranging from one to three weeks including raising the ceiling on fines and penalising them with jail terms.