New Delhi: If the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has its way, soon mouth-watering chicken tikkas and seekh kebabs will be relegated to inside shelves in south Delhi, as the area’s Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic body has proposed a ban on their display in the open.
Citing hygiene and “sentiments of people” as the main reasons, the SDMC had brought this proposal and approved it in its meeting recently. Leader of the House Shikha Rai had said the proposal covered “both raw and uncooked meat” of all kinds, displayed by shop-owners right outside their shops.
Reacting to the ban, Sangeeta Singh, head, Street Food Programmes, National Association of Street Vendors of India (Nasvi) told Gulf News, “Such bans have been imposed every now and then — sometimes on sugarcane juice vendors, cut fruits sellers and momos sellers. And now this. We had gone to the High Court and got a positive judgement in 2014. The country has the Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 and Street Vendors Protection of Livelihood & Regulation of Street Vending Act 2014. So, any kind of ban imposed by the municipal corporation does not hold good.
“It is surprising that when they talk about hygiene, how come vegetarian food is hygienic whereas non-vegetarian stuff is not. Who is this corporation to decide? This is just another ploy of extorting money out of food sellers and harassing them. It is merely a political stunt and nothing will come out of it. It’s high time the department changed its behaviour.”
A spokesperson of the SDMC said, “It was a private member resolution that was moved by a councillor from Kakrola village in Najafgarh Zone in the health committee meeting. The committee had further moved it to the SDMC, which approved it. The proposal would now be sent to the Commissioner to be examined, if it is in accordance with the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act. It will be up to him to accept or reject it.”
The proposal has drawn sharp reactions from various groups, including food experts and restaurant owners.
Food historian and Persian scholar Salma Husain asserted, “To impose such things is not a healthy attitude because we live in a secular country and everyone has the right to exist. Though the BJP is the ruling party and they have the majority, still, they have to consider the sentiments of other people living in India and who have full faith in their leadership.”
Husain felt that displaying vegetarian or non-vegetarian food does not make any difference to any sensible person, as people do not really pay attention to such things. But impositions can be irritating and can have unpleasant results. Since not everyone has the understanding, such acts can be used as a tool by mischief-makers, she said.
“If at all it is to do with hygiene, the department should come up with strong rules. They should provide more facilities to vendors and restaurants and educate them on the levels of hygiene,” she added.
Meanwhile, it is for the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and the functionaries under it to take appropriate action to ensure proper maintenance of food. Commissioners of Food Safety have been specified for each state and designated officers have been specified for each district. These officers are fully empowered to take action to ensure that food vendors and restaurant owners follow the prescriptions of the law.
Delhi, including the south region, is dotted with many eateries and restaurants selling meat products. And owners have said the move was interference in their personal lives and livelihood. Requesting anonymity, the owner of an eatery in south Delhi’s Defence Colony market said, “No political party should be allowed to make dictatorial decisions. We see no rationale behind this move. But then there is no need to get worked up about the issue. It will die a slow death.”
