People are going on a shopping spree as the festive season is just round the corner. And nothing sells more than food items in the run up to the great festivals of Dashain and Tihar. With the skyrocketing demand, there is pressure on the supply side, and some of those in the food chain do not hesitate to resort to wrongful means for that extra benefit. The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DoFTQC) is the chief government body that constantly monitors the quality of available food commodities and its black marketeering. Sujan Dhungana of Republica caught up with Jiwan Prava Lama, director general of the DoFTQC to talk about the issues regarding food quality and the DoFTQC´s plan to regulate the market. Excerpts: [break]
What is DoFTQC´s strategy to maintain the quality in food commodities for the festive season?
As the chief government body to look after food commodities, DoFTQC is constantly monitoring the market. We have prepared a plan until Chhath festival, as per which we are carrying out special inspections targeting the festive market. For effective monitoring, we have segmented the market into big/small scale industries, shops/department stores, hotels and fair price shops.
So what have you notice in the market?
One of the challenges is that many shops, mainly outside the capital, are selling outdated products. Cleanliness is another problem among hotels, restaurants and sweet shops.
They are playing with consumers´ health. Most of the semi-urban sweet stores use unhygienic food colors. We have warmed some of them while shut down the others, which had been using such color excessively.
As a large number of people return home for the festival, many eateries along the highways fleece commuters, offering substandard food at a high price. How are you tackling this problem?
It is true that eateries along the highways boom during Dashain and Tihar. For this we have started a Mechi-Mahakali (cross-country) mobile monitoring through our mobile vans, targeting the festive season. On top of that, a special monitoring team patrols different highways hotels and restaurants at least once a week.
We have already rated 181 small and big highway eateries across the country on basis of the quality of service they provide. As we have published their rating in front of the respective eateries, it will help customers to choose the right place to eat. We have found this approach is much practical, and most of the foreigners have praised it.
DoFTQC has often been criticized that it only focuses its monitoring activities in the capital and the festive season. Do you accept that?
Yes, we are largely focused on the capital´s market. Due to lack of enough resources, we have not been able to carry out effective inspection across the country.
However, it is not that no monitoring is taking place outside the capital. We have a special team that monitors markets outside the capital. Chief District Officers (CDOs) of every district have been strictly directed to monitor the markets and even conduct raids if they find anything suspicious in the marketplaces. They report to us twice every month.
The allegation that we are festive oriented is quite baseless. We constantly monitor the market. However, we are much more alert during Dashain and Tihar.
Effectiveness of market monitoring has frequently been questioned. What do you say?
Though we monitor the market regularly, we cannot deny that we have been not been able to provide rapid market response. The DoFTQC lacks enough skilled manpower and technology for the purpose.
With limited manpower and other resources, we have not been able to carry out immediate action in market. On the other hand, the market does not always welcome our interventions. There are instances, when our monitors have been mistreated. Moreover, as monitoring is jointly carried out by different governmental bodies, sometimes there is conflict of interest between them.
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