Maharashtra Has Tukaram Mundhe, Bihar Has Kumar Ravi: Can They Win The Battle Against Unsafe Food?

News cities patna-news Maharashtra Has Tukaram Mundhe, Bihar Has Kumar Ravi: Can They Win The Battle Against Unsafe Food?

Last Updated:October 24, 2026, 11:33 IST

Bihar has carried out 531 food-safety inspections in three months, but how much unsafe food goes unreported? Kumar Ravi’s biggest challenge may lie beyond the raids

When Tukaram Mundhe made food-safety enforcement a visible administrative priority in Maharashtra, inspections of restaurants, commercial kitchens and food businesses brought the issue into the public spotlight. In Bihar, IAS officer Kumar Ravi is pursuing a similar public-health goal, but the challenge may be harder: unsafe practices can go unnoticed when consumers do not know what to look for, where to complain or whether reporting a violation will lead to action.

The figures from Bihar’s food-safety department indicate that enforcement has gathered pace. Over a three-month period, officials conducted 531 inspections across all 38 districts, seized or destroyed food products worth Rs 17.32 lakh, prosecuted 15 establishments and suspended two establishment licences, as reported by India Today. The figures provide an early measure of the campaign being overseen by Ravi, Bihar’s health secretary and commissioner of food safety.

Yet the larger question is whether these interventions will translate into lasting improvements in the way food is stored, prepared and sold across the state. For Ravi, the task extends beyond conducting raids or penalising businesses. It involves building an enforcement system that can identify risks even when consumers do not bring them to the authorities’ attention.

Kumar Ravi’s Food Safety Drive: Why Daily Monitoring Matters

For Kumar Ravi, food safety is a continuing administrative responsibility rather than an issue to be reviewed only during official meetings. He keeps his WhatsApp channel open to public complaints and reviews the situation daily, assessing ground-level developments, identifying gaps and determining where further action is needed.

His approach is closely linked to his responsibilities as health secretary. The role gives him direct exposure to the burden of disease and the number of people seeking medical treatment. As commissioner of food safety, he has another way to address public health: preventing illnesses associated with contaminated, adulterated or improperly handled food.

The two responsibilities are closely connected, although monitoring food-safety enforcement adds to an already demanding workload. Ravi continues to make time for the campaign, with the stated objective of ensuring that action against unsafe food remains a sustained priority rather than fading after an inspection or a high-profile seizure.

A graduate of IIT Kanpur, Ravi joined the IAS in 2005. His administrative experience spans district governance, election management, flood relief and urban administration. Food safety presents a different challenge because the consequences of weak oversight may not be immediately apparent, and the effectiveness of enforcement often depends on whether businesses correct their practices after officials leave.

531 Inspections Across 38 Districts: What The Figures Reveal

The departmental figures cover a wide range of food businesses, including sweet shops, dairy outlets, restaurants, retail establishments and other commercial kitchens. In addition to the 531 inspections, officials reported food products worth Rs 17.32 lakh seized or destroyed, 15 establishments prosecuted and two establishment licences suspended.

The inspection drive has covered both familiar national food chains and smaller businesses operating in less organised parts of the food economy. Establishments inspected have included KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Barbeque Nation.

Reported violations have ranged from inadequate hygiene and improper storage to lapses in food handling. Depending on the findings, officials have collected samples for laboratory testing, issued improvement notices and initiated enforcement proceedings.

The geographical spread of the inspections is another important measure. Patna recorded 87 inspections during the reported period, followed by Rohtas with 41, Saran with 40 and Gopalganj with 37. These district-level figures offer a snapshot of where inspections have taken place, although inspection totals alone do not establish whether enforcement is sufficient or evenly distributed according to risk.

Expired Milk, Contaminated Kitchens: Crackdown Extends To Quick Commerce

The campaign has also reached the expanding retail and quick-commerce sector, where consumers increasingly depend on rapid delivery of groceries and packaged food.

On October 22, officials reported seizing and destroying 40 litres of expired Amul milk at a Blinkit store in Patna. During an inspection of another store, expired ghee, flour and spices were found.

In a separate case in Hajipur, the licence of Sahib Hotel was suspended and its operations were stopped after an inspection prompted by a complaint about cockroaches revealed an unhygienic kitchen.

These cases illustrate why food safety involves more than detecting deliberate adulteration. Expired products, contaminated ingredients, inadequate refrigeration, unsuitable storage conditions and unhygienic preparation areas can all put consumers at risk. Food may become unsafe even when no adulterant has been deliberately added.

That makes oversight necessary at every stage of the supply chain, from the procurement and storage of ingredients to food preparation, retail and final sale. The range of businesses being inspected in Bihar reflects the need to address these different risks rather than concentrate on one category of food or establishment.

Training Food Safety Officers To Strengthen District-Level Enforcement

A key part of Ravi’s strategy has been to strengthen the personnel responsible for implementing the campaign on the ground.

Over the past three months, the department has ensured that health department officials undergo 14 days of induction training followed by 26 days of on-the-job training before being deployed as food safety officers. These officers are expected to lead district-level inspection and raid teams.

The department has also ordered strict action against food adulteration and directed officials to conduct special inspection drives covering milk and dairy products, sweets, fried foods, spices and other food items.

Compliance checks are being extended to hotels, restaurants, catering services and e-commerce warehouses. Officials have also been instructed to upload inspection reports daily to the Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) portal and respond promptly to public complaints.

Together, the measures are intended to improve the capacity of district teams, broaden the reach of inspections and make it easier for senior officials to monitor enforcement. Their effectiveness, however, will depend on how consistently the instructions are implemented and whether violations lead to corrective action.

Why Bihar Cannot Depend On Consumer Complaints Alone

The most difficult part of Ravi’s assignment may lie beyond the inspection figures. Consumer awareness is uneven, and the absence of complaints does not necessarily mean that food being sold issafe.

A customer who encounters expired products or an unhygienic kitchen may simply stop visiting the establishment. Some may warn friends or relatives but never approach the authorities. Others may not know where to file a complaint, may be unsure whether officials will respond or may prefer to avoid a confrontation with a local business.

This creates a fundamental challenge for enforcement. An administration that relies heavily on complaints risks overlooking violations that consumers have not identified or reported.

Mundhe’s food-safety campaign in Maharashtra has made the issue highly visible. In Bihar, Ravi’s administration faces the additional task of strengthening public awareness while ensuring that enforcement continues even when complaints are limited.

The distinction is important: a successful food-safety system cannot depend solely on consumers recognising unsafe practices and alerting officials. The administration must also be able to identify risks independently.

Surprise Inspections And Follow-Up Checks Will Be Crucial

Proactive inspections can help close that gap. Risk-based checks, surprise visits, regular sampling and follow-up inspections allow authorities to examine establishments even when no complaint has been received.

District-level data can also help officials identify areas receiving fewer inspections and assess whether resources are reaching businesses that pose greater risks. The reported figures from Patna, Rohtas, Saran and Gopalganj offer a starting point for such monitoring, but they need to be considered alongside the nature of violations detected and the action taken afterwards.

Equally important is what happens after an inspection. A seizure removes a product from circulation, but it does not automatically prevent similar violations from recurring. An improvement notice achieves its purpose only if the business corrects the deficiency. A prosecution must proceed through the legal process, while a suspended licence must be backed by compliance checks to ensure that the establishment meets the required standards before resuming operations.

For the campaign to deliver lasting results, inspections, laboratory testing, district coverage, prosecutions and compliance monitoring must function as parts of the same system.

Can Bihar Build A Lasting Food Safety Enforcement Model?

The 531 inspections, Rs 17.32 lakh worth of food products seized or destroyed, 15 prosecutions and two licence suspensions indicate that Bihar’s enforcement machinery is active. The training of food safety officers, wider inspection coverage and daily reporting requirements are further steps towards strengthening the system.

However, these figures primarily measure enforcement activity. They do not, by themselves, establish how much unsafe food has been kept off the market, whether businesses have corrected violations or whether consumers are now better protected.

That is the longer-term test for Ravi and his team: making unsafe practices more difficult to sustain, ensuring that complaints can be registered and acted upon, and maintaining oversight beyond individual raids.

For an administration dealing with uneven consumer awareness, success will depend on whether inspections become routine, corrective action is verified and enforcement reaches businesses that might otherwise escape scrutiny.

Tukaram Mundhe’s campaign in Maharashtra has brought food safety into sharper public focus. In Bihar, Kumar Ravi is working towards a system that can function even when consumers do not routinely raise the alarm. The early figures show a beginning; whether the effort delivers a safer food environment will depend on the consistency of enforcement in the months ahead.

About the Author

Parishmita Saikia

A sociologist by training and a storyteller by profession, I spend my days shaping news, and when I’m not chasing deadlines, I’m exploring new places, discovering different cultures and tasting unique...Read More

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