Mumbai: A day after a Shiv Sena legislator assaulted a MLA hostel canteen staff over the alleged bad food quality, the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) suspended the licence of a caterer operating the canteen. The FDA issued a notice to Ajanta Caterers asking them to immediately stop selling and serving food.Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad had roughed up a canteen staff as he was upset over “stale” dal served to him. After the video of the assault went viral, the opposition and even common people demanded action against the MLA. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Gaikwad’s party chief also condemned the MLA’s act. However, the CM put the onus of taking action against Gaikwad on the Assembly Speaker and Council Chairman. The FDA on the other hand acted promptly against the canteen operator. In its order issued on Wednesday, the FDA said, “The license issued to your establishment from June 26, 2024 to September 27, 2027 is being suspended with immediate effect. You are further informed that during the license suspension period mentioned in the attached order, you or anyone on your behalf should not buy, sell or distribute food items. If found doing so, you should note that legal action will be taken against you for selling/distributing food items without a valid license as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and the rules/regulations there under.” An official informed that the FDA conducted inspection of the canteen at ‘Akashwani’ MLA hostel on Wednesday and collected food samples. The samples will be tested in a laboratory and the results are expected in the next two weeks after which the further course of action will be decided. Mr. Gaikwad said the right action has been taken by the FDA because of him. “What I did was not wrong. The food served to me was almost like a poison. I would have taken ill after consuming it. They were playing with the lives of people. My action may have been harsh, but because of that the FDA has taken action,” he said. The MLA claimed that even state FDA minister Narhari Zirwal had instructed officials to take action against the contractor because there were nearly 400 complaints. “But the minister’s orders were also ignored,” Gaikwad said. NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said Gaikwad may not face any strong action as he belongs to a ruling party. “Gaikwad is part of the ruling alliance. He is also close to a senior leader of his party. I doubt there will be any serious action against him,” he said.
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