New Delhi: The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh is set to bring in a new stringent law to curb incidences of contamination of food and beverages with human waste, spit, inedible items or other filthy material. The move came in the backdrop of some incidents in the state where food stall staff or juice centres were penalised for allegedly contaminating edible items such as juice and rotis with human urine or spit.
On October 15, Adityanath convened a high-level meeting with officials and discussed with them a proposed new law to put a “permanent stop” to the incidents of adulteration of food items like juice, dal and roti with human waste, inedible items or other filthy material, a government spokesperson said. In the meeting, Adityanath took note of such incidents of contamination across the country.
‘Incidents adversely affect health of common man’
“Such incidents are horrific and adversely affect the health of the common man. It also adversely affects social harmony. Such nefarious attempts cannot be accepted at all,” said Adityanath.
The actual contours of the new law or laws are not yet known. Some reports suggested the government could bring in two separate ordinances, one prohibiting spitting and other anti-harmony activities and the another criminalising contamination of food.
Adityanath instructed officials that the law should consider such crimes as cognisable and non-bailable. Those who violate the law should be punished with imprisonment and fine, the CM told officials.
Also, the law must have clear provisions to take strict action against any staff working in an eatery if he or she was found to be an “intruder or an illegal foreign citizen,” the government said, quoting Adityanath.
In addition to this, the law would have also had a provision to ensure harsh punishment to any staff member of an eatery if he or she uses pseudonyms or provides wrong information about themselves.
Adityanath said it was necessary to make a “strict law” in view of the importance of ensuring the “purity” of food items and maintaining the trust of consumers about public order. A clear law should be made regarding the activities related to hotels, restaurants, dhabas and street vendors, Adityanath directed officials.
Curiously, Adityanath also instructed officials to ensure through the law that there is not a single activity of adulteration of food items and beverages by “anti-social elements” through the concealment of their identity.
The government said that the proposed law would make it mandatory for the seller of food and beverages and other service providers to put up a signboard at the establishment providing all their details. Every consumer should have the right to have the necessary information about the seller, said Adityanath.
Mandatory for staff to wear identity cards
The government also plans to make it mandatory for all staff working at eateries to wear identity cards and that sufficient number of CCTV cameras be installed for continuous monitoring in the kitchen and dining room of food establishments. The footage of at least one month would have to be made available at all times when asked by the district administration.
The business operators of these eateries would be required to provide the details of the personnel working in their establishments to the concerned police stations.
The government’s decision to bring in a law comes three weeks after Adityanath had instructed officials to ensure that the names and addresses of the operators, proprietors and managers of eateries in the state are prominently displayed at the establishment, even if it required amending current laws related to food safety.
On September 19, while opening a three-storey ‘floating restaurant’ in Gorakhpur, Adityanath made a cheeky reference to incidents where people were found contaminating food or juice with urine and spit.
“It’s good, at least what you get here won’t be the juice from Hapur. You won’t get rotis with spit on them. Whatever you get here, will be pure,” said Adityanath in Gorakhpur.
Though Adityanath mentioned Hapur, he was referring to an incident in Ghaziabad where two persons –the juice stall owner and a minor who worked there –were arrested on September 13 for allegedly contaminating juice with human urine.
The arrested accused was identified as Aamir. An FIR was lodged in the case for charges related to adulteration of food or drink intended for sale, sale of noxious food or drink and malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life.
In another incident, on September 7, police in Gautam Buddha Nagar arrested a restaurant staff, identified as Chand, for allegedly spitting on rotis while making them at the eatery. The act was allegedly caught on video and widely shared on social media.
The FIR invoked charges related to negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life, malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life and disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant causing danger to human life, health or safety.
A similar incident was reported in Saharanpur on September 10, where a minor boy was arrested for allegedly spitting on rotis while he was making them. The restaurant where the boy worked was also sealed by the food safety department, said police. A case was registered in the matter for promoting enmity between different grounds on the grounds of religion, etc.
Another incident was reported in Shamli, also in west UP, on September 23 when a juice vendor was arrested for allegedly spitting into the mosambi (sweet lime) juice while he was squeezing the fruit with a hand-operated juicer. A short clip of the incident was shared on social media. The accused was identified as Asif, aged 20.
