Milk adulteration a non-bailable offence?

Mumbai: Intending to prevent milk adulteration, Maharashtra government will soon bring an act, making milk adulteration a non bailable offence and with imprisonment upto three years. The announcement was made by food and civil supplies minister Girish Bapat in the Assembly on Tuesday.

BJP MLA Amit Satam raised the issue through a calling attention motion demanding strict action against the culprits who indulge into milk adulteration. Bapat said “at present the punishment is for six months and it a bailable offence. If the imprisonment period is increased to three years , there will be no scope for bail for the accused." 

On the raids conducted by the department, the minister said that at present there are four mobile vans for testing adulteration of milk and admitted that the testing is not done regularly. He assured that concerned authorities would be told to do so. "The mobile vans would do testing of milk vans entering Mumbai and  some parts of the state," he said. A campaign was conducted against milk adulteration in the state between Janaury 16 and 23, 2018 in which 819 samples were seized for testing. Of which, 62 samples were of low quality and 207 were of the normal standard, the minister said. 

"It is found that only 0.58 per cent milk was adulterated from the samples taken from Mumbai. So, it is not true that Mumbai receives 30 per cent adulterated milk," Bapat added. 

The minister was referring to a query raised by Amit Satam who alleged that 30 per cent milk supplied to Mumbai is adulterated. He had also demanded amendment to the the existing laws  to check adulteration of  milk, medicines, food in hotels.