Food and Civil Supplies Minister Girish Bapat on Tuesday accepted the suggestion that milk producers will be held responsible for the quality of milk till it reaches consumers and told the legislative assembly that the government is taking all measures to curb milk adulteration in the state. He even announced that it has been proposed to the Centre to have two laboratories in Nagpur and Aurangabad check the quality of milk.
That cases of milk adulteration are on the rise was raised by legislators Sunil Prabhu, Arjun Khotkar, Parag Alawani and Rahul Kul who said that the government should think of moving MCOCA against those responsible. Mr Alawani said that milk producing companies should ensure that the quality of product remains intact till it reaches consumers. He said if other manufacturers could ensure quality, then why not milk producers. The issue of the government being unable to conduct periodic checks owing to being understaffed was also raised.
Responding to these queries, Mr Bapat spelled out measures undertaken by the government. “It is true that along with chemicals, urea is also mixed in milk. We are trying to set up district-wise labs to check the quality of milk and two have been proposed at Aurangabad and Nagpur. We will also think of accepting Mr Alawani’s suggestion that milk producers be made responsible for the quality of milk till it reaches consumers,” he said.
On the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) being understaffed, Mr Bapat said that 38 to 40 per cent posts were lying vacant. -"We are trying to fill the posts. We have also asked to recruit new apprentices with B.Sc. and M.Sc. qualifications,” he said. The government had conducted 29 raids recently in slum areas of the city and 16 were arrested for being involved in milk adulteration. Also, 29,000 litre of adulterated milk was destroyed after the raids, added Mr Bapat.
