Tukaram Mundhe Went To Dinner With Friends. Then Fake Paneer Was Served

A dinner outing with a friend at a restaurant became an early demonstration of how Maharashtra's new food safety chief approaches his job. Tukaram Mundhe, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner, had only recently taken charge when a friend invited him out for dinner. 

After receiving the invitation, Mundhe joked that his new responsibilities meant he would probably spend the evening looking for violations rather than simply enjoying the meal.

"I have this habit of wherever I go, I just look around," Mundhe told NDTV Profit in an exclusive interview.

At the restaurant, Mundhe noticed that its mandatory food licence was not displayed prominently. He also asked questions about the establishment's arrangements for drinking water. Then friend ordered a paneer dish.

"I said don't order paneer. Definitely not going to pass the test of my eye," Mundhe told his friend.

When the paneer arrived, Mundhe examined it more closely and questioned whether the restaurant was serving actual paneer or an analogue product.

"I again asked, is it really real paneer? As soon as it came, I just checked it. It was definitely not real paneer," he said.

Mundhe told his friend not to eat it. He then raised several issues with the restaurant's management, including the compliance concerns he had noticed.

But he did not immediately seek punitive action against the establishment. Instead, he said, the restaurant was given 24 hours to correct the violations.

"After 24 hours I asked my officers to go and check. So they had 24 hours to comply with that. And of course checking took place and rest is history," he said.

Mundhe took charge of the FDA three months ago. The 2005-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Maharashtra cadre has launched an extensive campaign against food-safety violations across the state.

Restaurants, ice cream parlours, dairies and e-commerce facilities have faced action over breaches of hygiene and food-safety requirements. 

Mundhe's methods have also attracted criticism, particularly over the suspension of licences and whether such measures are proportionate in individual cases. He has defended the FDA's authority to act swiftly where there is a potential risk to public health.

In the past two months, Mundhe said, officials carried out more than 3,100 inspections. About 165 licences were suspended, while more than 750 establishments were served improvement notices.

"If it doesn't sound proportionate, I don't know what the definition of proportion would be," Mundhe said.

He has also rejected the suggestion that the campaign is about building his own public profile.

"It's not about me. It's about food sector. It's about food safety. It's about food standards," he said. "I would be the happiest person that FDA did not need to go anywhere and FDA is closed. If that can happen, nothing like it."