Srinagar, May 09: In order to effect the execution of Food Safety and Standards law in the state, the J&K High Court on Thursday directed the Service Selection Recruitment Board (SSRB) to submit a report about the recruitment of various non-gazetted posts in the Drugs and Food Control Organization (DFCO).
The direction was issued to the recruitment agency to submit the status report on an affidavit about the recruitment of various non-gazetted posts in the DFCO.
The affidavit shall have to be filed within four weeks by the agency, directed a division bench comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Tashi Rabstan.
Earlier a status report had been filed before the court by the Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education department, Atal Dulloo. The report disclosed the status of the sanctioned posts and the vacancy position in the department. The report also stated the steps being taken for recruitment by the respondents.
The High Court also directed the state’s Additional Advocate General to trace out the report submitted earlier to the court by Dr. Abdul Kabir, Commissioner Food Safety, J&K, and bring it before the bench.
It is worth mentioning that the J&K High Court in 2016 had taken suo-moto cognisance of news reports on the food adulteration and rising cancer incidence in J&K. It had treated the reports as a Public Interest Litigation.
The court took note of the reports that no scientific mechanism was in place in J&K to test foods in markets, including the edible oil and milk.
The reports highlighted deficient infrastructure and manpower at the Valley’s lone Food Testing Laboratory in Srinagar, and also the acute lack of treatment and diagnostic facilities for cancer patients, especially at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and Government Medical College and Associated Hospitals.
The government under pressure from the judiciary, expended Rs 18 Cr on creating state-of-the-art Food Testing Public laboratories at Srinagar and Jammu. But the required human resource is yet to be made available to run the laboratories and other related portfolios of the Drugs and Food Control Organization.
