Adulteration of foods
Photo: STAR
Adulteration of food has taken a serious turn. The unscrupulous elements are taking advantage of the absence of any provision for strict punishment and administrative supervision for implementation of the same to discourage and deter them from such heinous and dreadful activities. Pouring of various types of chemicals for preservation and ripening of various kinds of foods, edible oil, fish, vegetables, fruits etc. is the order of the day with very little resistance from the administration. Use of DDT on dry fish which is a poison is very common these days. The consumers are totally helpless before these traders or businessmen in the absence of any support from the country's legal system and the administration. Some casual drives are made occasionally by the administration in some places here and there and imposition of nominal fines or three months' simple imprisonment hardly made any lasting impact on the dishonest traders and their heinous activities are going on unabated. Food adulteration is a criminal offence of highest magnitude and, therefore, would warrant maximum punishment for the offenders such as capital punishment. Capital punishment for adulteration of food is normal all over the world. But why the law is so lenient to the offenders in our country for such a grave offence which amounts to slow poisoning of the entire population is anybody's guess. Let me cite an example, a few months back the maid servant of a relation of ours left her job as she got a better job of “pushing injection” in watermelons with coloured dyes! Imagine persons taking those watermelons with raw coloured dyes, what kind of serious health hazards they were virtually exposed to! The most dangerous part of the story is that those syringes used for injecting the coloured dyes must be the used ones collected either from the private clinics or from the dustbin! I cannot imagine if there is any instance of serious crime of such nature which is worse than murder, is prevalent in any other part of the world. No wonder diseases of serious natures such as cancer, kidney and liver ailments, AIDS and all other incurable diseases are alarmingly on the rise in the country. Therefore, it is high time our age old legal system is revised and death penalty is introduced with no scope for appeal for the adulteration of food items. But simple revision of the punishment is not enough, quick trial and proper implementation of the law is also a must for eradication of such crime by those dishonest traders and businessmen. Side by side special task forces with administrative support should be formed at the city and district levels comprising magistrates, police and civilians to visit the farmers, aratdars (stock holders) and middlemen and advise them of the bad effect of those chemicals on the public health which also include their families as well.
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