Let’s hope this FDA commissioner is here to stay

FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe

The new mantra on the foodie landscape is Tukaram Mundhe aa raha hai. The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner's raids are now the stuff of news, views, on media and social media as he continues to pull up eateries for various lapses and rule violations.

While the court has hauled up the FDA on some occasions and that too has made news, the overall picture is that of a commissioner doing a clean-up job without fear or favour. Citizens, by and large, are cheering for this man and his campaign. There is also the sentiment that Mundhe must not be transferred. He must stay in this post and continue doing the stellar job he is undertaking.

Citizen support is heartening, but we must stop to think why people fear that he will be transferred. It is a sad commentary on our system that people who are efficient, honest, and fearless about taking on so-called big names are ‘transferred' or shunted out.

This is what people believe because of past records. Even if in a couple of cases, the transfer has been done for genuine reasons, it is tragic that there is such a trust deficit between the citizenry and those in power.

Corruption has rotted the system, and we do have numerous examples of officers who do and dare ‘disappearing' mysteriously from the system, being transferred to obscure locations or being removed. Let us restore faith and become a transparent, effective, equitable, and disciplined democracy, not one where prejudice and big names can swing things their way.