- As you are aware, we Indians are not only indigenous in inventing new and entirely unthinkable acts of vanishing or developing something out of the box, but also extremely innovative in coming out with out-of-the-box novelty factors most often. Most importantly, we are most adept at finding a way out to not only circumvent the existing rules/regulations/guidelines/policies that the government and/or authorities implement from time to time but also skillfully succeed in exposing the loops for parochial considerations need no further elaboration. Of course, the prevailing ecosystem in the country, vis-à-vis the unholy nexus between the political masters and the bureaucrats, facilitates tampering as well as finding ways to play under the radar.
PC: Times of India
- Little wonder, not a day passes without one or the other reports of how conmen fool the gullible citizens despite having in place stringent measures on paper at least. That the conmen succeed in finding ways and means to hoodwink even officials sometimes takes the cake, you see. Innumerable cases have been reported over the years, and expect the same to head northwards in the days ahead too. One such case was recently highlighted when the famed Tirupati temple was in the news for fake ghee used for the preparation of laddoos. It is a scary tale of how milk suppliers cream the public with such impunity, with nary a scare for authorities catching them for perpetrating crime. And this has happened at the world-famous Tirupati temple is astonishing.
PC: The Hindu
- For the uninitiated, that a cheat in Uttarakhand passed off a synthetic concoction as ghee to one of India’s most venerated temples in Andhra for five years is more than a mere adulteration crisis. It’s a breakdown of the social contract. When the Tirupati laddoo contamination came to light last year, official statements stated the ghee had failed Tirupati’s own checks. Now it appears the supplier was allegedly so corrupt that he re-supplied the same product with tweaks via another fraudulent dairy in Tirupati itself. Unbelievable. Food inspector FSSAI has been investigating alongside the CBI team. Yet, it is FSSAI itself that must be held to account for being oblivious to such an extensive, high-profile fraud that has continued for so long.
PC: Dairy Dimension
- Milk and ghee adulteration has been on FSSAI’s radar for at least 20 years. Five nationwide surveys on milk and milk products have been carried out since its 2011 survey, all revealing a broken, unorganized sector. Even in 2019, it said milk is largely safe. Results from the 2023 survey were not made public. But we know contamination is widespread using urea and detergents, heavy metals, pesticide residue, and so on. The question is, what is being done about it? The strict action FSSAI keeps promising is but a news snippet. How long spurious vendors swing back into action unperturbed with the aid of malleable authorities? The truth is, there is no real deterrent allowingthe conmen and antisocial elements a free run, bamboozling us adroitly.
