Punjab: Five veterinary officers dismissed
In a bold move to address negligence and absenteeism, Punjab Animal Husbandry Department on Thursday terminated the services of five veterinary officers with immediate effect.
With Punjab’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducting raids on food business operators (FBOs), there is a steep rise in the number of application for registration as a FBO.
The FDA commissioner KS Pannu on Thursday said the strict action by the Food Safety teams has not only purged the market out of adulterated milk and milk products to some extent but has also managed to bring a large number of FBOs into the fold of law.
He informed that 4518 applications for licence or registration as an FBO have been received by the department just in a month.
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This includes 1113 applications for licenses and 3405 for registration certificates. Pannu said the license is issued to the FBO having an annual turnover above Rs 12 lakh while the registration certificate is mandatory for an FBO with annual turnover under Rs 12 lakh “It is highly encouraging to see that people are willing to abide by law and are coming forward to be the part of the system”, he said.
The commissioner said the department has issued 531 licenses and 2057 registration certificates in the last 30 days, generating revenue approximately to the tune of Rs 66 lakh as the license or registration fee while the processing of remaining applications is in the pipeline.
Ludhiana tops the chart with approval of 61licenses and 312 registration certificates while Jalandhar being close on heels with a similar 61 licences and 90 registration certificates(RCs), followed by Mohali which gets 60 licenses and 138 RCs.
The application process for license or the RC is very simple. The FBO can apply manually to the designated officers in the district or can pay the relevant fee and update the challan details online in the Food Licensing and Registration System on Food Safety and Standards Authority of India website, said Pannu.
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