FDA’s excellent work
The officers of Goa’s Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) are doing a commendable job by raiding and shutting down food joints, sweet shops, bakeries and juice centres where the conditions are unhygienic, no proper storage facilities or do not have licences. They also check the artificial ripening of fruits since the chemicals are injurious to health (O Heraldo report dated
April 13).
Food business operators, whether street vendors, in retail, distribution, storage, transport, catering, and manufacturing of food items; need to have trained food handlers.
The FDA has notified that for every 25 food handlers or less, there must be at least one trained and certified Food Safety Supervisor. Hence, the FDA conducts a course on Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) to ensure food safety and hygiene in the operating premises.
FoSTaC is an excellent initiative and should be strictly implemented by the FDA.
The FDA needs to approve and check events such as cake and wine making where tens of people participate. Do people wear gloves while mixing the cakes? Are the feet clean when people stomp on the grapes to make wine? What if someone has a contagious skin disease or is suffering from cold and cough during the event? Better still would be to stop such public events!
Besides food and drinks, the FDA could verify pharmaceutical products and prevailing conditions in the factory. People work to earn for food and depend on medicines when unwell, but if these basic necessities are contaminated then the FDA in every State needs to crack the whip and book those involved in adulterations.
In several countries, adulteration is a serious offence and punishment is severe that includes jail and monetary penalties.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Parked vehicles can cause accidents
Two youth from Karnataka reportedly lost their lives in a road accident at Nandran, Mollem, on early Sunday morning after the two-wheeler they were riding rammed into a truck parked on the road after suffering a mechanical breakdown.
There have been numerous accidents reported wherein a speeding vehicle has dashed into the rear of a parked vehicle. It must be said that wrongly parked vehicles on the road can be as dangerous as a speeding vehicle as far as causing an accident is concerned.
There could be incidents when a four-wheeler or a heavy vehicle is parked at a blind turn due to a technical snag. This can prove very dangerous for vehicles speeding on the highway. At times branches of trees are displayed on the vehicle which has broken down on the road in order to warn other vehicles from imminent danger.
This step could prove to be too little too late as a speeding vehicle could have very little time to stop in order to prevent an accident. It is absolutely necessary to move the vehicle which has developed a mechanical breakdown to the road shoulder immediately.
The threat is all the more imminent if the breakdown takes place at night and the streetlights are either not functioning or absent. Even keeping the parking lights of the vehicle on may not prove adequate enough to prevent an accident.
If the vehicle cannot be moved to the side, then a towing vehicle needs to be requisitioned from the nearby police station. Traffic cops need to see to it that no vehicles are parked on the road which can be an obstruction to traffic movement.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
RTI Act weakened
The Union government has needlessly meddled with the Right to Information (RTI) Act by amending it through the implementation of the Data Protection Law.
Through the amendment, the government can decline any information relating to a person requested via RTI. Besides this, the government has also removed an important clause from the RTI Act which states that “information which cannot be denied to a Parliament or State legislature will not be denied to any person”.
Although the original sections in the RTI Act balanced privacy and transparency while adding safeguards and ensuring accountability, the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) amendment only removes any such protections.
Over the years, the RTI has been slowly weakened due to unwarranted amendments, overreach of the executive and restrictive judicial interpretations.
Ever since its ratification, several attempts have been made to deliberately dilute this law and hamper access to information by the public.
In the administration and functioning of a democratic government, the right to access and seek information is a sine qua non for transparency, openness and accountability. Unless citizens are empowered with the right to ask questions, democracies cannot and will not survive. Said late Justice V R Krishna Iyer: “A government which functions in secrecy not only acts against democratic decency, but also buries itself with its own burial.”
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Haemophilia merits attention and awareness
Frank Schnabel founded the World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH) and went on to be a trendsetter in creating an acute awareness about haemophilia and other bleeding disorders.
World Haemophilia Day is observed annually on April 17 (Schnabel’s birthday) to heighten awareness among the discerning about haemophilia.
A genetic bleeding disorder, haemophilia has suffered from a dearth of knowledge. Haemophilia is a disorder where blood clotting is affected by the scarcity of clotting factors.
An excruciating pain, in and around the joints, is the dominant symptom. Since it is a genetic disorder, nothing can be done to prevent haemophilia but much can be done to reduce its repercussions.
It's common in men, and women are mostly haemophilia carriers. Such women have a significant risk of giving birth to babies with haemophilia. Minor haemophilia may merit a mere observation. The life expectancy is relatively good for those with haemophilia if they receive treatment early with blood clotting factor replacements.
The “Royal disease” thought to have originated from Queen Victoria of England in 1837, indeed requires royal attention, care and management.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Eliminate plastic pollution
The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2050, our oceans will contain more plastic than fish, leading to significant plastic consumption. As a fossil fuel product, plastic doesn’t biodegrade but breaks down into particles that contaminate our food chain when ingested by fish. Furthermore, plastic waste in landfills pollutes groundwater with toxic chemicals.
Therefore, we must commit to ending plastic pollution daily as a simple and cost-effective way to protect our planet.
Celebrated annually on April 22, Earth Day began the modern environmental movement in 1970. It raises awareness and promotes action to protect our planet, with people engaging in clean-ups, tree planting, rallies, and educational programmes.
This year’s Earth Day theme is “Our Power, Our Planet.” Let's embrace this theme and eliminate plastic pollution together.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai