Health Minister Pushes Food, Drug Safety

Health minister C. Damodar Rajanarsimha ordered officials to prepare a plan for closer coordination between the Food Safety Department and the Drugs Control Administration (DCA).

Speaking at a review meeting at the Secretariat on Wednesday, he said the government would not compromise on quality food, safe medicines or public health.

During the meeting, the officials proposed a merger of the departments to speed up inspections, sample collection, laboratory tests, intelligence work, enforcement and legal proceedings. They cited staff shortages, inspection difficulties, limited laboratory capacity and delays in case investigation. Officials who studied systems in other states briefed the minister.

The health minister praised both departments’ work and asked Principal Secretary (Health) Christina Z. Chongthu to examine the administrative, legal and technical aspects and prepare proposals suited to Telangana.

“There will be no compromise on matters concerning public health,” he said. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had focused particularly on food safety, he added.

The minister asked officials to recruit specialists, increase staff strength, modernise food-testing laboratories and examine the need for regional laboratories. Modern equipment should improve testing capacity, while stronger legal teams should pursue cases until offenders are punished, he said.

Enforcement against adulterated food and substandard or counterfeit medicines must become stricter, Rajanarsimha said. However, “hotels and restaurants that provide quality food should not be harassed under any circumstances”.

He asked Director-General (DCA) Avinash Mohanty to encourage good manufacturing practices and protect Hyderabad’s global reputation in pharmaceutical and vaccine production.