- Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura
Agartala, March 16, 2022 : The Health & Family Welfare department of Tripura is celebrating the 75th year of India’s independence, themed on – ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with two events – ‘Walkathon’ on March 30 next and ‘Eat Right Mela’ on April 9.
Speaking to media persons at Agartala Press Club on Wednesday, Deputy Food Safety Commissioner Dr Anuradha Majumder said that the Walkathon will start from City Centre on March 30 next at 7 AM and end at CMO West Tripura district office in Agartala.
The Eat Right Mela will be organized at Agiye Chalo Sangha premises here on April 09 next. The fair will start from 4 PM and end at 8 PM. Various stalls will be opened up in the fair, she added.
Citing some developmental measures by the department, Dr Majumder said “Eight Food Safety Officers will be recruited soon through TPSC and the process is going on. We also have two Mobile Food Testing Van. Apart from this, training is also being done and awareness campaigns for the public are also organized.”
She also said “On the basis of complaints received from different parts of the state, our officials of Food Safety department visited 42 companies of packaged drinking water and among them, we found 15 companies are having valid documents”
“Not only this, fish in different markets are being tested. Even our officials also participate in surveys conducted by the central government”, said Dr Majumder adding that their target is not enforcement as they are willing to help people.
Apart from this, Food analyst Santanu Biswas said that Tripura is one among the eight northeastern states to get NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accreditation to the laboratories across the state in the month of January last.
In the press conference, Director of H&FW department Dr Radha Debbarma, District Officer Sangita Chakraborty, Officer Dr Deep Kumar Debbarman, and Agartala Press Club secretary Pranab Sarkar were also present.
It is to be mentioned here that there is an advanced Regional Food Testing Laboratory at Agartala under the State Family Welfare and Disease Prevention Department for food security. There are several Food Safety Officers under this department who collect suspicious food samples from different parts of the State and send them to the State Food Testing Laboratory. This laboratory has been functional since 1973. After testing in the laboratory, the Food Analyst sends this report to the concerned Designated Officer. Designated Officer takes action as per the test report. All processes are regulated by the State Food Safety Commissioner i.e. the Health secretary by virtue of post.
At present the Government of India has provided two advanced Mobile Food Testing Laboratories by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to the Government of Tripura.
