A delegation of Chamber of Associations of Maharashtra Industry and Trade (CAMIT), led by its President Dipen Agrawal met Suresh Annapure, Joint Commissioner (Food) of Food & Drugs Administration, Nagpur.
At the outset Dipen Agrawal presented floral bouquet to Suresh Annapure, Jt. Commissioner (Food), FDA and welcomed him in Nagpur the second capital of the State. Dipen Agrawal briefing about the activities of CAMIT informed the new Jt. Commissioner that it is continuous endeavour of CAMIT to facilitate frictionless implementation of food and drugs rules and regulation across the state.
Prakash Kataria, Vice President, Maharashtra Masala Udyog Association, Pune and owner of Suruchi Masala highlighting the past experience said that during any search and seizure proceedings an environment was created that everything in the establishment is wrong and illegal, however, the test results of samples taken during the proceedings say otherwise.
Such practice brings bad name to department, it should be depreciated and the field officers should be sensitised about how to conduct their free and fair duty.
Prakash Waghmare, President, Vidarbha Food Industry Association and owner of Waghmare Masale supporting the submissions made by Kataria said that sometimes the officers in their zeal to discharge their duty, inadvertently terrorise the licensees. Waghmare highlighting that Hon’ble Prime Minister of India once said that tax should be collected in the manner a honeybee collect nectar from the flowers, said that department should ensure that all their actions are within the four corners of Constitution of India and they are seen as confidence building measures rather than terrorising the licensee.
Dilip Thakral, Chief Advisor, Vidarbha Rural Industries Association and owner of Kailash Masale said that “to err is human” it’s natural for human beings to make mistake. Department should jointly undertake knowledge imparting sessions with trade associations on regular basis so as to update the licensees and their staff updated with latest development and requirement of law.
Summing up the submissions Dipen Agrawal proposed that FDA Nagpur should constitute a grievance redressal committee to be chaired by Jt. Commissioner having members from department and licensees from all major centres of Nagpur District. The committee can meet once in a quarter or as and when required to have an effective grievance redressal mechanism. This will help department to have first hand information of developments at ground level and at the same time build a positive image of department, added Dipen Agrawal.
Jt. Commissioner (Food) Suresh Annapure after hearing the delegation said that he is firm believer of “Department and Licensee are two sides of same coin”. Jt. Commissioner appreciated the proposal of constituting a grievance redressal committee have representation of department officers and licensees to periodically address the issues faced by licensees. Suresh Annapure asked Advocate Nikhil Agrawal to draft a proposal to constitute grievance redressal committee. He further assured the delegation that FDA will jointly work with licensees for effective implementation of rules and regulations to ensure citizens get standard quality and world class services.
Vijay Pote, treasure of Vidarbha Food Industry Association expressed his gratitude to Jt. Commissioner Suresh Annapure for accepting the welcome; patiently hearing the delegation and the assurance to maintain balance between the interest of both, the consumer and licensee.
