Kochi: Learning a bitter lesson from the controversy that arose after substandard food items having less quantity than stipulated found their way into the Onam kits, the Kerala Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) has issued strict guidelines in this regard. It was ‘Malayala Manorama’ that exposed the defects in the Onam kits.
Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Supplyco Ali Asgar Pasha has issued an order to all divisional heads and regional as well as depot managers to ensure the quality of food items to be distributed in the kits in the coming months. The order says that depot managers should check whether the goods reaching their depots comply with the guidelines mentioned in the tender. Matters such as labelling and packing have to be examined, says the order.
Moreover, samples need to be tested as per the guidelines mentioned in Chapter 7 of the Food Safety Act and all the test results recorded in the quality register. If any discrepancy is suspected, the quality inspection committee has to mention it in the register. The committee’s decision on accepting or rejecting the items will be final, says the Supplyco CMD’s order.
The CMD also says that the minutes of the committee meetings and the findings regarding the quality of the goods should be recorded in the quality register. Another task of the committee is to arrange facilities to carry out tests of samples in NABL-accredited laboratories at the earliest.
No jaggery, ‘papads’ in kits
Meanwhile, Supplyco has decided to exclude jaggery and ‘papads’ from the kits to be supplied to 87 lakh ration card owners in the state from September to December. The poor quality of these items in the Onam kits had sparked a controversy. The kits would now include Bengal gram, sugar, wheat flour, green gram and split pigeon peas.