VRISHANK MAHATME
vrishank@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: With Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) experiencing a massive shortage of food inspectors, it has now requested Directorate of Transport to assist them in testing fish at the two check posts. As per sources it will be Regional Transport Office (RTO) inspectors who will test the fish being imported into the State, if the request is accepted.
As per information, FDA currently has 20 food safety inspectors, of which 17 have been deployed at the border check posts of Polem and Patradevi.
Confirming the development, sources from the Directorate of Transport said they had received such a proposal from the FDA, however, the department was not too keen on the proposal stating that they too were facing a shortage of staff.
“We have received a proposal from the FDA requesting Transport Department to assist them in testing of fish. We have forwarded this proposal to the government. However, there are major concerns whether the transport inspectors are competent enough to test fish, it’s like an engineer performing a surgery,” sources from Transport Department said.
They added, “Secondly, Transport Department is already facing a shortage of inspectors, as in the last four years, there was no recruitment. We will be waiting for directions from the government.”
It was also revealed that a similar proposal had been sent to the Department of Fisheries asking them for assistance in testing fish.
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had expressed helplessness in view of the shortage of staff at the FDA stating it was not possible for FDA officials to check fish from every crate for the presence of adulterants.
“It is not physically possible to check each and every fish from the containers entering Goa, we have restrictions, as the number of FDA employees designated to carry out the spot tests is limited,” Rane had said.
It is also a month since Rane had said that fish traders operating from outside the State and involved in transporting fish to Goa should obtain licences from the State FDA, but no fish traders have either registered for or possess a licence.
