FORMER SPECIAL CHIEF SECRETARY KBS SIDHU AND COL. JASJIT SINGH GILL (RETD.) SEND THE CHIEF MINISTER A DRAFT LAW FOR A PUNJAB FOOD, PHARMA AND AGRICULTURE SAFETY AUTHORITY
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Alarmed at the increasing instances of adulteration of food in Punjab, much of it not merely injurious to health but literally poisonous, KBS Sidhu, IAS (Retd.), former Special Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, and Founder-Editor of The KBS Chronicle, and Col. Jasjit Singh Gill (Retd.), environmental activist from Ludhiana, have jointly written to Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. With the letter they have sent a complete draft Bill, the Punjab Food, Pharma and Agriculture Safety Authority Bill, 2026, for the Government’s consideration.
They point out that synthetic paneer, analogue ghee, chemically treated milk, aflatoxin-laced cattle feed, spurious pesticides and seeds, and substandard medicines now reach households across the State. “This is no longer petty cheating at the shop counter,” they say. “Much of it bears the hallmarks of organised crime, with factories, supply chains running across districts and States, and networks of protection.”
They describe enforcement as sketchy and fragmented. Health, agriculture, animal husbandry and drugs control work in separate silos. Raids are concentrated in the festival season, samples are tested late, and convictions are rare.
“The big fish escape, while the dhaba owner, the halwai and the kirana shopkeeper bear the brunt of inspections and the threat of criminal cases. We need a law that is ruthless with the mafia and fair to the small trader.” — KBS Sidhu“What reaches our plates also reaches our soil, our cattle and our rivers. Punjab cannot protect the health of its people unless farm, feed, food and pharma are regulated as one chain, from farm to fork.” — Col. Jasjit Singh Gill (Retd.)
MAIN FEATURES OF THE DRAFT BILL
■ A State Authority headed by the Chief Secretary. It will exercise supervision and control over the districts, with power to suspend and, after a hearing, annul any district-level decision.
■ A District Authority headed by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate. This will be the cutting edge of enforcement, coordinating the existing Food Safety Officers, Drug Inspectors and agriculture inspectors, with powers delegated to ADMs, SDMs and district officers.
■ Civil remedies first. Ordinary lapses will be handled through improvement notices, graded civil penalties and the compounding of offences on payment of substantial fees. The police will have no independent role in inspections or sealing, so the system does not become a police state.
■ A hard line on the adulteration mafia. Industrial-scale and organised adulteration will carry three to seven years’ imprisonment, fines of up to ₹1 crore or three times the value of the goods, and attachment and forfeiture of property. These offences will be non-bailable and non-compoundable and will be tried by Special Courts.
■ Protection for small traders. This includes free simplified registration, a 60-day grace period, 70 per cent subsidised testing, a good-faith defence for retailers of sealed goods, and a cap of ₹20,000 on penalties where the goods are not unsafe.
■ Safeguards against harassment. These include video-recorded inspections, independent witnesses, binding deadlines for laboratory reports, compensation for wrongful seizure, an independent Appellate Tribunal and Ombudsman, and punishment of officials who act maliciously.
■ Respect for the courts. Once a criminal court takes cognizance of a case, the executive may intervene only in the limited ways the Act provides.The two have urged the Government to bring the Bill before the coming session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. They have also invited citizens, traders, farmers, consumer groups and experts to examine the draft and send suggestions.
