IAS officer RV Karnan landed at Telangana’s Food Safety Department not with a whimper but with a bang. In 72 days, the new food safety commissioner inspected 129 restaurants, pubs and eateries in Hyderabad alone, and issued 90 show cause notices.Across the city’s high-end restaurants and popular eateries, his name is spoken in whispers—he is the “fearless”, “out-of-syllabus”, modern-day Singham. Waiters tremble, head chefs shudder, and managers begin to sweat when Karnan’s task force is on the move.
The raids began on 16 April and haven’t stopped since. Karnan is not just checking school canteens and hostel messes, he’s going after well-known eateries, pubs, and fine-dining restaurants.
“No one expected inspections of this kind. It has never happened. He [Karnan] came ‘out-of-syllabus’,” said Gopichand, training front-desk manager at Royalton Hotel. Shah Ghouse, Pista House, Rameshwaram Cafe, Taco Bell, Baskin Robbins, La Pino’s Pizza, Paradise Food Court, and Baahubali Kitchen were among the many popular restaurants that failed to pass muster. Karnan even raided the warehouses of delivery apps and found them wanting.
By all accounts, Karnan is not intimidated by big brands, bribes, or bad publicity. He has other, more important concerns: stale or adulterated food, insects, and poor hygiene.
“He’s unafraid of their power or pressure. The goal is to feed delicious and healthy food to the people of Telangana,” said T Vijaya Kumar, who retired as deputy food controller of Telangana on 10 June.
The amping up of inspections and raids is part of the Telangana government’s mission to reclaim Hyderabad’s image as a food paradise. The city has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons: In January, 15 people were hospitalised after eating shawarma from a popular food outlet. Last year, at least 30 patrons of a mandi (meat and rice) restaurant suffered food poisoning.
“Hyderabad is known globally for its biryani. We must not compromise on food quality,” Telangana health minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha declared during an 11 June meeting he and Karnan held to warn health, hotel, and food industry associations.
Karnan’s task force is at the centre of this mission, but he keeps a low profile in the media. He is not one to make war talk or grandiose statements. But as Telangana’s National Health Mission (NHM) director as well as its food safety commissioner, he wants to change people’s mindset that restaurant kitchens will always be unhygienic.
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