The Sindh Food Authority is supposed to get active this
week from Feb 20, 2017, with Karachi as its first experimental and most
lucrative phase. The Authority’ Bill was approved by the Sindh Assembly on
March 8, 2017 and with the signature of the Governor Sindh it became the Sindh
Food Authority Act on April 8, 2017.
There is no denying the Sindh Food Authority is the
need of the hour. If it works impartially and transparently, safe and healthy
food would be accessible to an already-deprived common man. As reported in
media, the Authority have four various financial penalties at its disposal,
which may be termed source of revenues too. The Registration Fee on all vendors
from a 5-Star restaurant to push-cart vendor ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs. 50000.
The Annual fees on them from Rs. 80 to Rs. 8000. Penalties ranging from Rs. three lac to five
lac if medical of employees are not covered and similar amount of fines for
serving sub-standard food.
Overviewing the domain of these penalties, it seems that the
Authority’ main targets are outdoor food-serving vendors. While the kind of
edibles and even basic food stuff including vegetables, fruits, dairies,
cereals, poultry, meat, etc. are in market hardly anybody satisfies from it.
There is a serious need to have a check on their supply and production too,
which the Food Authority doesn’t seem to cater. Second, the provincial
authority should begin its functioning impartially and across the province
even-handedly. But to target only Karachi even in experimental phase, questions
the impartiality of the Sindh Food Authority.
The foremost irony is the Sindh Government neither developed
its organizational structure nor has its own staff to manage and run
functioning of the institution, yet it has only devised penalties and monetary
fines which it will start to pocket from this week only in Karachi with the
help of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation staff.
The Authority has not established offices and neither have
concerned staff at District level. Nor have any Food laboratory at District
level, a pre-requisite for Authority. Yet they are starting its operations from
Karachi through KMC food inspectors because Karachi have always been a cash cow
for all such means and greed.
Even if the Sindh Food Authority is going to begin
operations from Karachi it should keep in mind the metropolitan has 6
districts. And, according to the Authority’ Act there must be a food lab in
each district of the province, so before begin operations the Authority is
required to first establish food labs in each district of Karachi, which is a
vast and sizable megacity in terms of distance and population. Currently,
Karachi has only a single food lab that too is under the control of KMC rather
Sindh Food Authority.
The Authority’ by-laws permit food inspectors to
collect registration and annual fees from a push cart or roadside vendor to a
5-Star hotel or lush eatery. It raises a serious question how they can keep a
watch on a moveable seller who doesn’t have his own place. Secondly, these push
carts and roadside vendors mostly do business occupying roadside encroachments,
so after collecting Registration and Renewal fees from them does the Sindh Food
Authority are going to regularize these encroachments?
Therefore, an
anti-encroachment drive is must before Authority begin its operations,
otherwise we will see more hustle in already congested downtown of the city.
Lastly there is no room in the Authority’ set up for
important relevant ministries like Environment, Local Government or Agriculture
nor have representation from any Consumer and Civil Society. That insinuates an
authoritarian and exploitative intention behind the law makers of this
Authority.
Yet, there is no denying a Food Authority is the need
of time not only in Karachi but also across the province. Wish all these
shortcomings would be overcome soon.
By
Editorial, Infocus
