By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Health and Family Welfare, Rowell Lyngdoh, has admitted that the State does not have standardized equipment to check if food items like milk is contaminated.
“All this time out of good faith we believed that the milk which is being supplied by the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department and other local milk producers are not contaminated. But it was after the official from the Union Government conducted the test that it came to our notice that the milk is contaminated,” Lyngdoh said during the Question Hour on Monday.
Reacting to this reply of the Deputy Chief Minister, Manas Chaudhuri (Ind) demanded a categorical assurance that the Government would take adequate steps for procuring of the standardized equipment to check if the milk which is being supplied to the consumers is contaminated.
Earlier, Chaudhuri expressed concern to the reports that the people of Shillong are being supplied with contaminated milk.
He also inquired whether the department has any kind of machinery to check adulteration of food.
In reply, Lyngdoh said that they have a Food Safety Inspector in every district who are responsible to conduct surprise checking on a regular basis.
UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh was sorry that the people of the State are consuming contaminated milk and water.