Exclusive Interview | Tukaram Mundhe: 'We Won't Tolerate Corruption'

By the end of August, we had conducted more than 12,000 raids, including drug inspections. In the food sector, we have suspended 600-plus licences and issued more than 5,000 improvement notices. The inspections were carried out across Maharashtra, including in rural areas. We have covered all food sectors, including hotels, dairies, chain restaurants and even dark warehouses. Wherever there have been regulatory violations or a lack of compliance on the part of food- business operators, we have taken action as per the law. Schedule 4 violations and non-compliance led to suspension. In non-Schedule 4 cases, we sent improvement notices. We did not expect this many violations.

We have to understand the context in which we have been working. Before 2011, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act was in prevalence, which was basically about preventing adulteration. The new Act, which came into existence in 2011, is about safety and standards. So, there has been a 180-degree cultural shift in the approach. Food-business operators had to change their way of functioning, and the regulator had to make them comply with these new regulations, standards and safety norms. We had new systems and new officers. Information Technology systems were put in place. These things happened over a period of time and now we are in a position to act. So, I am not working in a vacuum. Right now, the scale is different and the results are different, but I haven’t started from scratch. Earlier officers also took action. We have probably changed our approach. Now we don’t simply take samples for inspection. Our focus now is to protect and promote public health. That is the overarching goal. We have decided to go for a mission-mode approach, which will lead to a safe Maharashtra, ultimately resulting in better public- health outcomes. That’s the overall ecosystem in which we have started working in.

As of now, we require almost three times more than the existing manpower. We have a roadmap. We have prepared a new staffing pattern and submitted it to the government. The government is positive. Simultaneously, the number of registrations and licences has gone up in the past three months. When I joined towards the end of May, there were 10,53,000-odd registered and licensed entities in food businesses; as of today, we have more than 13,50,000 entities. There has been a rise of three lakh entities in the past three months. That’s definitely one of the reasons why we started acting. As a result of this, unregistered or unlicensed entities have started taking licences now. This is not just about businesses. It is about the GDP [gross domestic product] and ultimately about public health. So, our proposal for restructuring and strengthening the department is on track. Soon, we will be able to get more sanctions for these posts.

We have three food laboratories and three drug laboratories. We are strengthening those labs with high-end equipment. Four labs are under construction. Civil work is almost complete. We are working on instrumentation and a new staffing pattern. The outcomes of the laboratories have dramatically improved in the past three months. When I joined, almost 13,000-odd samples were pending and the yearly output of these labs was around 25,000 samples in both food and drugs. In the past three months, we have been able to test around 32,000 samples—a rise of almost five to six times in efficiency. We managed this with existing manpower, resources and equipment. The results are for everybody to see and we are better placed as compared to earlier times.

The legislation is almost 20 years old, but the regulations started coming in after 2011. Over a period of time, new legislation and regulations will be formulated. Enforcement is key. We must not consider the regulator simply as a food and drug department but as an establishment that works in the public-health domain. We need a futuristic vision. We need to start using the latest technologies like IT and artificial intelligence. We need a lot of end-to-end automation and to undertake data-based decision-making. Technology aside, we should be able to connect with citizens. We need to empower them so that they approach us with their grievances. There should be greater participation from the industry side as well. The regulator and entities must work together and should be on the same page when it comes to regulation and compliance. Also, the regulator needs to be much more proactive rather than reactive. Adopting a proactive approach, the effective use of technology, empowering and educating citizens and genuine businesses and taking stringent action against defaulters is a strategy that worked for us in Maharashtra.

I think institutions are larger than individuals. Individuals will come and go. Institutions will have their own culture. We are trying to develop a culture which every stakeholder is proud of, which every stakeholder will carry forward. It will neither die with us nor fade away if some other person comes in. We are focussing on three things—developing a culture of compliance, strict enforcement by regulators and vigilant citizens. In Maharashtra, we are going for end-to-end digitisation projects. Once we fix automation and digitisation, everybody will be on the same platform and then we will get relevant data. People will get automatic alerts and they can connect directly with us. We have now operationalised our complaint redressal mechanism through a complaint portal. In the past one and a half months, more than 10,000 grievances have been posted on the portal. If we also take into account the toll-free number and mails to my offices, we have received more than 20,000 grievances. We have resolved almost 60—70 per cent of these. We are trying to make people understand that compliance cost is lower whereas the cost of non-compliance is quite expensive. There is a public connect now. This public connect needs to be established and institutionalised. People should become the real torchbearers of safe food and safe drugs so that we have a healthy society.

If there are any black sheep, we will take stringent action. I have come across some cases but we don’t have solid evidence. But we have increased our vigilance. We have a separate vigilance wing for that and it’s quite active.

Besides, people can connect with me directly. That’s always an option. I keep making appeals on public forums that if you come across a person who is doing something that’s not as per the law or if a person is demanding a bribe from you, please connect with me, my vigilance wing or with the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Maharashtra. If you are a genuine person, we will definitely help you out. There is a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. And we have a zero-tolerance policy against non-compliant food-business operators or establishments. I am making it very, very clear. We won’t tolerate those whose integrity is compromised.

That is not for me to decide. I am not the authority to decide that. The government will take a call. I try not to think about it. I try to focus on my present role. I try to work to the best of my ability wherever I go. That is the spirit we all should work with.