POOR ADULTERATION CHECK by Health Department

Ferozepur, January 17, 2013: The Punjab Health Department had been remain in headlines on account of poor health arrangements and in case the name of Health Department is changed to Examination Department will not be an exaggeration as due to vacant of 40 to 50 per cent of doctors and 25 to 40 per cent of other categories in Health Department, it has openly announced that every patient is responsible for his own health, go to the costly private hospitals because the health of Health Department itself is not good. 

In every district, District Health Officers have been appointed under the supervision of Civil Surgeon at each district headquarter but the facts speak that very few sample of eatables and daily useable items are drawn with the result, in the eyes of Health Department, whatever is being sold in the market, is of good quality.

RTI activist, Wazir Chand, had asked for the information from the Civil Surgeon, Fazilka and Ferozepur to the extent as to how much samples were drawn for daily useable items during the six year from 2007 to 2012 besides the punishment in the event of failure of sample and compensation for the items confiscated for which the samples were found okay.

According to information provided by the Civil Surgeon, Ferozepur, in all 221 samples were taken, out of which 33 samples were failed and 190 were passed and the average for taking the samples comes to 37 samples per year and less than 3 samples per month.

SAMPLES SUMMARY

He further stated that in both these two districts, there are hundreds of shops of halwais, fruit merchants, karyana stores besides number of shops and statistics itself speaks about the working attitude of the Health Department.  Normally, it is seen that the samples are taken by the Health Department during the festival days  to ensure threat products being sold are free from adulteration and in good quantity of cheese and sweets are lifted and the same are destroyed after sampling but in case the sample is passed by the laboratory, what compensation is given to the victim.  But the health department is mum on this issue as there is no law on this point.  There is a general complaint from the seller’s community that samples are sent to Chandigarh which takes a lot of time for getting the laboratory tested report but the Health Department continue to harass them

Hans Raj and Raj Kishore Kalra, state spokesmen of the Education Reforms Committee, starting the campaign on education and social issues said, there is need of regular sampling and testing of eatable items for holding responsible the Health Department for the health of the people and in case the adulteration in eatable items is allowed to continue then the condition of the people of Punjab would be worst who have already l become the victim of serious diseases.