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Maharashtra government to declare milk adulteration non-bailable offence
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Thursday, 15 March, 2018, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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The Government of Maharashtra has promised that shortly, there will be a law in place declaring the adulteration of milk a non-bailable offence, and those found indulging in the malpractice will be imprisoned for upto three years.
Addressing the legislative assembly, state food, civil supplies and consumer protection, food and drug administration and parliamentary affairs minister Girish Bapat said that there will be no scope for those sentenced to a three-year prison term to obtain bail.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Ameet Satam said, “Milk adulteration is taking place on a very large scale. According to reports, various substances, such as detergent, toxic soda, starch, fat and contaminated water are being used for the purpose.”
“The consumption of these does not just lead to gastro-related problems, but it can also lead to cancer. States such as Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have amended their laws to deal with the issue of milk adulteration,” he added. Satam and a few other members of the House demanded that life imprisonment be awarded to those found indulging in it.
Bapat said, “Currently, adulteration of milk is a bailable offence with a prison term of upto six months.” The process of changing the law from Section 272 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to Section 276 will soon be implemented. This will declare the malpractice a non-bailable offence and the term in prison will be upto three years.
However, in response to Satam’s and the other members’ demand that life imprisonment be awarded to the guilty, the minister said its implementation will be a long procedure and won’t be easy.
“The state has four mobile testing vans for the testing of milk, but the random checks are being conducted properly,” he said, adding that the concerned authorities were looking into the matter.
Assuring that there would be regular checks, Bapat said there was a manpower crunch issue in the state, but added that the vacancies had been filled. “As a result of the new recruits, the number of inspectors has increased. This will improve the process of random inspections across the state,” the minister stated.
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