Mindless Masters

                                              With the introduction of FSSA our government Bapu’s have once again proved they are living in a world that is cut out from the reality. Rules that are brought in are mindless, draconian and do not fit the Food & Beverage Industry atmosphere of our country. At first instance, how did they even accepted the recommendations with-out fine tuning or customizing according to the conditions (fragments of food business) of our country. Yes, the FSSA rules fetched in from abroad are great and fits good for western countries & for mass food producing & food processing industries in our country. But not for majority of small shops that cater to the mass public & shouldn’t have to implement the rules (common) as it is (for all segments of the food business) for a country like ours where most food outlets that cater to the masses are run by road side/home based and small outlets. The rules of FSSAI are unrealistic how do they expect a road side caterer to appoint a Diploma/Graduate holder to supervise their small unit which is mostly run either individually/self-employed or as a family or with the help of one or two assistants, instead they should concentrate more on the hygiene & cleanliness part by educating them about the GHP & GMP practices.

I wonder how many high end hotels, restaurants and industrial caterers have implemented these practices or educated and trained their staff on it. Before bringing in the rules to live, have our bapus ever sensitized or educated the business community about the rules that are going to be covered under this? Had they taken the steps to inculcate the rules as a chapter into the hotel/hospitality schools syllabus?     

  

These rules simply pave way for harassment of businesses under the hands of local bapus and a breeding ground for corruption. First of all does any of the sanitary/food inspectors are equipped or have the knowledge to identify the products just by observing or sensing whether it is with in or out of shelf life. 

How often do they walk into an established brand/chain food outlets and checked for the quality & quantity and how many times have they issued a paper for the deficiency. Does this mean that all these businesses follow the HACCP, GHP & GMP to the core, of course not it’s because our Bapus are afraid of the influences that will wage a war against them if they ever even think of issuing a paper. It is the helpless and uneducated roadside & small eateries who are being fleeced & harassed by all walks of authorities due to their ignorance & inability.   

Our Central Bapus from the (recommending & implementing) departments should be made to stroll the nook and corner of the country to conduct a reality check before implementing these rules.