'Popularity was never my goal': Maharashtra FDA chief Tukaram Mundhe after issuing notice to 12,083 entities in 4 months

In limelight for his stringent food safety crackdown across Maharashtra, FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said that public health, and not his personal popularity, matters the most.

"Popularity was never my goal," Mundhe said, adding that the celebrity-like status following aggressive crackdown is not a distraction for him.

“What matters to me are issues like public health. This is not about Tukaram Mundhe. This is about India and the goal to improve public health,” the senior IAS officer told PTI in an interview.

My vested interest is to serve people honestly: Tukaram Mundhe

“The food and drugs sector affects public health. If that becomes a public agenda by my actions and role, I will be happy about it,” Mundhe added.

Talking about political vulnerability due to the aggressive approach, Mundhe said, “It is not aggressive. I am doing what I am supposed to do diligently. I have been doing this across my two decades of public service.”

“I believe this has to become a public agenda because it is the issue of public health. Citizens at large need to make public health the most important issue,” he said, adding that India cannot become a superpower without a healthy human resource.

Mundhe said that 12,083 entities have faced either shutting down, suspension of licence or faced criminal cases since he took over as the FDA chief in May.

Improvement notices have been given to 5,269 and suspension orders given to 603 entities, he said.

In case of hotels, restaurant and eateries, there have been 1803 inspections, Mundhe said. Improvement notices were given in 948 cases and licenses were suspended in 199 cases, he added.

Mundhe said that hygiene, manufacturing protocols, quality of raw materials and lack of trained manpower were the most common violations by eateries.

Talking about online food delivery platforms, Mundhe said “Basically, they are food business operators as per the law, but they don't think so. They have godowns. We have taken action against them.”

'Awaiting response from MCA'

Mundhe said that the FDA is still awaiting a response from five restaurants at Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) Bandra-Kurla Complex premises to the notices over third-party contracting arrangements.

Tukaram Mundhe urges people not to buy loose edible oil; compliance order issued for sector after violations

“MCA is registered as a Food Business Operator (FBO), but the actual operator is somebody else, who does not have a license or registration,” Mundhe told PTI.

The FDA had suspended the food licenses of Permit Room, Pavilion, Mediterranean, Oriental Swing, and Clubway & Pastry Counter.

In case of pharmacies, 740 licenses have been cancelled or suspended over several violations in the past four months.

Notice to Bollywood celebrities

Mundhe said two Bollywood celebrities had responded to the notices regarding elaichi advertisements. The FDA had issued notices to actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff for appearing the commercials.

“There is still time left of the 30-day period given to them to respond, he added.

The Cipla case

Mundhe defended the FDA over Bombay High Court's criticism the administration's handling of the Cipla case, saying there was no “procedural mistake” in the matter.

FDA had cancelled Cipla Pharma's drug sale licenses due to serious storage and handling irregularities at its Pune unit.

“It was not a procedural mistake. It was a little error,” he said. “My officer went overboard, became too liberal and gave them a last opportunity to be heard. However, that hearing was kept on a public holiday,” he said. “We have reissued the notice and are taking a call on it,” he added.

Mundhe said it was difficult to quantify the seriousness of substandard and spurious medicines in Maharashtra,

“I have taken a meeting of my officers and told them not to inspect the manufacturing process mechanically. You need to focus on process audit. Good distribution practices is a big issue and many of them (manufacturers) do not follow it. So, we are focusing on that also,” Mundhe said.

The IAS officer added that online pharmacies and medicine delivery platforms face the same level of scrutiny as physical pharmacies.