MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq has said that the government was launching a full-scale campaign against food adulteration from the first of Ramadan, to ensure pure food in the markets.
The AJK premier said this while talking to media-men on the occasion of mobile food testing vans delivery to the Food Department.
Terming it [mobile food testing labs] as the vision of the Supreme Court, the PM said that the present government has the privilege to translate the Supreme Court’s vision into reality.
The state-of-the-art mobile food testing laboratories, he said, would be helpful in detecting food adulteration instantly in addition to improving the availability of quality of food in the markets.
He said that it was incumbent upon the business community to expose the elements involved in this illicit trade.
Zero-tolerance policy against food adulteration
He said that the coalition government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against food adulteration.
The PM further stated that steps were being taken to strengthen the overall system.
“The Food Department’s Criminal Code will be revised and punishment for adulteration will be up enhanced up to seven years”, the PM said adding that every single citizen of the state was bound to follow the rule of law.
In response to a question, the Prime Minister said that the government was all set to launch a mega project worth Rs 36 crores for Muzaffarabad city.
The PM said that the government has decided to launch a crackdown against hoarders, profiteers and adulterers with full force.
Referring to the recent case of harassment of a foreign national, the PM said that government officers would be held accountable for the neglect of their duty or unethical behaviour.
The PM said that changing the age-old system was a lengthy process, however, arrest of a serving SHO on a woman’s complaint was a first step towards institutional reform.
He said that a large number of cases of wood smuggling have been registered in the last few months.
“An ordinary forest employee can now stop a serving DSP for wood smuggling because he knows that the Prime Minister is standing behind him”.
