Notification on Food Commission in a week: Minister

Bhubaneswar: The notification for setting up of the Food Commission in the State will be issued within a week following which the process for the recruitment of chairperson and members will start, Food minister Sanjay Dasburma said here on Saturday.

"The draft will get final approval within the next seven days. After that, the process for the recruitment of a chairperson and five members and a member secretary of the Food Commission will begin," Dasburma added.

The commission, he said, will become functional within two months. Five experts will work as its members while another will act as member secretary.

The chairperson will get facilities at par with the chief secretary while the five members will be given facilities being provided to principal secretaries. Similarly, an officer of the joint secretary rank will be in charge of a member secretary, sources said.

A draft notification was issued and public opinion was sought over the establishment of food commission on January 25.

Meanwhile, the Congress criticized government move to saddle the Information Commission with the additional burden of acting as the Food Commission.

“As per RTI data, there are 6000 cases pending before the Information Commission, which is a Herculean task to clear. At this juncture, if government gives it an additional responsibility of Food Commission, how can it redress the grievances of the complainants actively?" Congress spokesperson Sulochana Das said.

The BJP also raised question over delay in setting up of commission.

"The government failed to show its responsiveness. If a consumer wants to lodge a complaint over any grievance, who he would approach - BDO or Collector? The government should confirm it since an appropriate body for the same is yet to come up," BJP vice-president Prithivraj Harichandan said.