Chouhan urges PM to convene meeting of CMs on Food Safety Act

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 be kept in abeyance until issues concerning its provisions are resolved and also urged him to convene a meeting of all chief ministers at the earliest.

Chouhan said certain provisions of the Act were causing extreme hardships to very Small Food Business Operators (FBO) across the country and need immediate intervention.

"Keeping in view the approaching deadline of February 4, for issue of licences and registration of FBOs, the impractical and unimplementable nature of the provisions, and the great turmoil that it has caused, the provisions of the Act need reconsideration and extensive discussion," Chouhan said in a letter to prime minister.

"The fallout of this in each state of the country also needs to be examined in detail to look for reasonable solutions. I request you, therefore, to urgently convene a meeting of all chief minsters to ascertain their views on the subject.

"Till the time the issues are fully resolved, I seek your indulgence in kindly keeping the implementation of the provisions of the Act under abeyance," Chouhan said.

He also highlighted that there are approximately seven lakh FBOs, including street hawkers and roadside vendors, in Madhya Pradesh and the provisions of the Act affect all of them in the same way.

"This (street hawkers and roadside vendors) segment, specially has been very adversely hit on account of the stringent provisions of the Act. Unable to cope with the high benchmarks prescribed, which in some cases are impractical, most will be forced to close their businesses," Chouhan added.