What are we eating ?
I’ll discuss Maharashtra's food-safety enforcement drive, what it takes to keep food businesses compliant, and what it means for the common consumer.
Enforcement alone doesn't make food safe; compliance and consumer awareness must go with it.
Join me tomorrow, 4 PM, at BSE International Convention Hall, Fort, as we talk about how safe our food and drugs really are.
#FoodSafety #FDAMaharashtra
I’ll discuss Maharashtra's food-safety enforcement drive, what it takes to keep food businesses compliant, and what it means for the common consumer.
Enforcement alone doesn't make food safe; compliance and consumer awareness must go with it.
Join me tomorrow, 4 PM, at BSE International Convention Hall, Fort, as we talk about how safe our food and drugs really are.
#FoodSafety #FDAMaharashtra
#TukaramMundheEffect ... the overwhelming response is making me nervous - that is the kind of expectation and adulation that @Tukaram_IndIAS is attracting! All well deserved. Thank you @BSEIndia for a big enough venue!
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I am not a hero. I am a public servant.
Food safety is not about one officer or one department. It is about a simple promise: what reaches your plate should be safe.
Laws exist. Standards exist. The real work is carrying them from files to kitchens, shops and factories, and ryday practice.
That is where I want to spend my time. It is also where you can help.
If something looks unsafe, report it. Every complaint matters, and every plate deserves the same standard.
#TukaramMundhe #FoodSafety #inspiration #leadership #FDA
Food safety is not about one officer or one department. It is about a simple promise: what reaches your plate should be safe.
Laws exist. Standards exist. The real work is carrying them from files to kitchens, shops and factories, and ryday practice.
That is where I want to spend my time. It is also where you can help.
If something looks unsafe, report it. Every complaint matters, and every plate deserves the same standard.
#TukaramMundhe #FoodSafety #inspiration #leadership #FDA
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A Clean Kitchen Is Not Enough.
Food safety begins long before food reaches your plate.
It starts at the farm, continues through processing, storage and transportation, and depends on accountability at every stage of the supply chain.
Dirty kitchens are only one part of the problem. Adulteration, chemical contaminants, unsafe storage and gaps in traceability demand a broader, systemic response.
We must move beyond just inspections and focus on prevention, scientific standards, effective enforcement and accountability across the entire food ecosystem.
#TukaramMundhe #FoodSafety #PublicHealth #Leadership
ndtv.com/food/exclusive…
Food safety begins long before food reaches your plate.
It starts at the farm, continues through processing, storage and transportation, and depends on accountability at every stage of the supply chain.
Dirty kitchens are only one part of the problem. Adulteration, chemical contaminants, unsafe storage and gaps in traceability demand a broader, systemic response.
We must move beyond just inspections and focus on prevention, scientific standards, effective enforcement and accountability across the entire food ecosystem.
#TukaramMundhe #FoodSafety #PublicHealth #Leadership
ndtv.com/food/exclusive…
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No, I have not been transferred from FDA.
नाही, माझी FDA मधून बदली झालेली नाही.
I continue to serve as Commissioner, FDA Maharashtra. Our fight against unsafe, substandard, adulterated food and spurious, substandard drugs goes on.
मी अन्न व औषध प्रशासन, महाराष्ट्र येथे आयुक्त म्हणून कार्यरत आहे. भेसळयुक्त अन्न आणि निकृष्ट औषधांविरुद्धची आमची लढाई सुरूच आहे.
#TukaramMundhe #Trust
नाही, माझी FDA मधून बदली झालेली नाही.
I continue to serve as Commissioner, FDA Maharashtra. Our fight against unsafe, substandard, adulterated food and spurious, substandard drugs goes on.
मी अन्न व औषध प्रशासन, महाराष्ट्र येथे आयुक्त म्हणून कार्यरत आहे. भेसळयुक्त अन्न आणि निकृष्ट औषधांविरुद्धची आमची लढाई सुरूच आहे.
#TukaramMundhe #Trust
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Nana Patekar is no more.
I have lost not merely an exceptional artist, but an extraordinary human being and a dear friend , someone whose warmth and affection touched everyone around him.
We spoke just eight days ago. I could never have imagined that it would be our last words to me were: “Love you, Bala.”
Those words will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Some people leave behind memories. A few leave behind a part of themselves in our lives.
Nana was one of them.
Goodbye, my friend. You will be deeply missed, and forever remembered.
I have lost not merely an exceptional artist, but an extraordinary human being and a dear friend , someone whose warmth and affection touched everyone around him.
We spoke just eight days ago. I could never have imagined that it would be our last words to me were: “Love you, Bala.”
Those words will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Some people leave behind memories. A few leave behind a part of themselves in our lives.
Nana was one of them.
Goodbye, my friend. You will be deeply missed, and forever remembered.
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Good governance is not about making headlines. It is about making a difference.
Food safety is ultimately about protecting people, upholding standards and building public trust.
When enforcement is fair, fearless and consistent, institutions earn credibility and citizens begin tem works.
The New York Times captures one such story from Maharashtra.
#TukaramMundhe #GoodGovernance #PublicTrust #FoodSafety #PublicService #NYTimes
Food safety is ultimately about protecting people, upholding standards and building public trust.
When enforcement is fair, fearless and consistent, institutions earn credibility and citizens begin tem works.
The New York Times captures one such story from Maharashtra.
#TukaramMundhe #GoodGovernance #PublicTrust #FoodSafety #PublicService #NYTimes
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When regulation protects people, governance earns trust.
Food safety is public health and public trust depends on institutions that act.
As food systems evolve across markets, hospitals, e-commerce and digital platforms, regulation must evolve with them.
Enforcement is not about headlines. It is about safer systems, responsible compliance and lasting behavioural change.
Good governance is measured by the difference it makes in people’s lives.
#TukaramMundhe #FoodSafety #PublicHealth #PublicTrust #GoodGovernance #NYTimes
nytimes.com/2026/10/03/wor…
Food safety is public health and public trust depends on institutions that act.
As food systems evolve across markets, hospitals, e-commerce and digital platforms, regulation must evolve with them.
Enforcement is not about headlines. It is about safer systems, responsible compliance and lasting behavioural change.
Good governance is measured by the difference it makes in people’s lives.
#TukaramMundhe #FoodSafety #PublicHealth #PublicTrust #GoodGovernance #NYTimes
nytimes.com/2026/10/03/wor…
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Leadership. Good Governance. Public Trust.
We often celebrate the individual who makes a difference. However,the real goal should be to build institutions that make a difference every day.
That is what leadership in public life should ultimately be about. Not power for its own sake. Not prominence. Not personal recognition. It’s about the public good.
Leadership means having the integrity to do what is right, the courage to take difficult decisions, the fairness to apply the law without favour, and the humility to listen.
But individual integrity is not enough. The real test of leadership is whether it makes the institution stronger. Public institutions should not depend on heroes.
And good governance is not the responsibility of government alone. Government must serve. Businesses must act responsibly. Citizens must participate. Institutions must remain accountable.
Public trust is earned in the everyday, one decision, one interaction, one institution at a time.
Leadership is not about creating heroes. It’s about building a system that works.
#Leadership #GoodGovernance #PublicTrust #Ethics #inspiration #TukaramMundhe
bbc.com/news/articles/…
We often celebrate the individual who makes a difference. However,the real goal should be to build institutions that make a difference every day.
That is what leadership in public life should ultimately be about. Not power for its own sake. Not prominence. Not personal recognition. It’s about the public good.
Leadership means having the integrity to do what is right, the courage to take difficult decisions, the fairness to apply the law without favour, and the humility to listen.
But individual integrity is not enough. The real test of leadership is whether it makes the institution stronger. Public institutions should not depend on heroes.
And good governance is not the responsibility of government alone. Government must serve. Businesses must act responsibly. Citizens must participate. Institutions must remain accountable.
Public trust is earned in the everyday, one decision, one interaction, one institution at a time.
Leadership is not about creating heroes. It’s about building a system that works.
#Leadership #GoodGovernance #PublicTrust #Ethics #inspiration #TukaramMundhe
bbc.com/news/articles/…
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BE THE CHANGE-MAKER.
Leadership is not about the authority you hold. It is about the change you enable.
Public policy and good governance cannot create lasting impact without active public participation.
Good governance is not something done to people. It is built with people.
Public leadership must therefore build trust, create ownership and bring citizens into the process of change.
That is where policy becomes practice, compliance becomes culture and governance becomes public value.
The true measure of leadership is not how much one individual can change, but whether people believe in the change enough to carry it forward.
#TukaramMundhe #PublicPolicy #leadership #GoodGovernance #publicService #inspiration
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad…
Leadership is not about the authority you hold. It is about the change you enable.
Public policy and good governance cannot create lasting impact without active public participation.
Good governance is not something done to people. It is built with people.
Public leadership must therefore build trust, create ownership and bring citizens into the process of change.
That is where policy becomes practice, compliance becomes culture and governance becomes public value.
The true measure of leadership is not how much one individual can change, but whether people believe in the change enough to carry it forward.
#TukaramMundhe #PublicPolicy #leadership #GoodGovernance #publicService #inspiration
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad…
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Act before it becomes a crisis.
Good regulation does not merely respond to problems. It anticipates them.
That was the thinking behind Maharashtra’s action against analogue/non-dairy paneer. Maharashtra prohibited its manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution and sale in July.
Maharashtra acted. Now India can have a uniform framework. FSSAI has now proposed nationwide restrictions on representing non-milk-derived products as “Paneer.”
The food identity matters. Consumers have a right to know what they are buying.
#TukaramMundhe #PublicPolicy #SafeFood #Maharashtra #analog
Good regulation does not merely respond to problems. It anticipates them.
That was the thinking behind Maharashtra’s action against analogue/non-dairy paneer. Maharashtra prohibited its manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution and sale in July.
Maharashtra acted. Now India can have a uniform framework. FSSAI has now proposed nationwide restrictions on representing non-milk-derived products as “Paneer.”
The food identity matters. Consumers have a right to know what they are buying.
#TukaramMundhe #PublicPolicy #SafeFood #Maharashtra #analog
FSSAI proposes to ban the sale of analogue paneer made from constituents not derived from milk. The proposal seeks to safeguard consumer interests and ban the practice of marketing analogue products as paneer.
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Food safety is about the society we choose to build.
From the historic challenge of milk Milawat to today’s concerns around unsafe, adulteration, nutrition and unhealthy food environments, India’s food-safety journey reflects something much larger: the health of our people.
Maharashtra is taking a proactive and visionary approach; strengthening enforcement while also shaping the food environment around children.
The better food choices create better food habits. Better habits can reduce the long-term burden of non-communicable diseases. And healthier populations lead to better public-health outcomes.
The objective of regulation is to create a food ecosystem where safety, responsibility and informed choice become the norm.
#TukaramMundhe #FoodSafety #Leadership #Indpiration #PublicHealth
theprint.in/past-forward/r…
From the historic challenge of milk Milawat to today’s concerns around unsafe, adulteration, nutrition and unhealthy food environments, India’s food-safety journey reflects something much larger: the health of our people.
Maharashtra is taking a proactive and visionary approach; strengthening enforcement while also shaping the food environment around children.
The better food choices create better food habits. Better habits can reduce the long-term burden of non-communicable diseases. And healthier populations lead to better public-health outcomes.
The objective of regulation is to create a food ecosystem where safety, responsibility and informed choice become the norm.
#TukaramMundhe #FoodSafety #Leadership #Indpiration #PublicHealth
theprint.in/past-forward/r…
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Influence is not immunity.
Artists, like everyone else, must respect the law and recognise the responsibility that comes with endorsing products, behaviours and habits that shape public choices.
When influence is used to endorse food products, public health cannot be an afterthought.
In Maharashtra, we have already issued notices to artists for endorsements that raise concerns in the larger public interest.
No one is above the law. And influence must never become a licence to promote what may harm public health.
The principle is simple: no one is above the law, and no commercial interest can take precedence over public health.@rashtrapatibhvn
#TukaramMundhe #PublicPolicy #publicvoice #inspiration
x.com/rashtrapatibhv…
Artists, like everyone else, must respect the law and recognise the responsibility that comes with endorsing products, behaviours and habits that shape public choices.
When influence is used to endorse food products, public health cannot be an afterthought.
In Maharashtra, we have already issued notices to artists for endorsements that raise concerns in the larger public interest.
No one is above the law. And influence must never become a licence to promote what may harm public health.
The principle is simple: no one is above the law, and no commercial interest can take precedence over public health.@rashtrapatibhvn
#TukaramMundhe #PublicPolicy #publicvoice #inspiration
x.com/rashtrapatibhv…
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Everybody Matters
Public health and public livelihood aren't opposing goals. They are two responsibilities of the same system and our goal is to hold both, together.
The vendor try to earn a livelihood, The business that creates jobs. The citizen who expects safe food. The consumer whose health must be protected. And the regulator responsible for ensuring that the rules are followed.
Good governance is not about choosing one over another. It is about creating a ecosystem where livelihood, vibrant food culture and public health can coexist.
#TukaramMundhe #PublicHealth #FoodSafety #GoodGovernance #FDA
m.economictimes.com/news/india/we-…
Public health and public livelihood aren't opposing goals. They are two responsibilities of the same system and our goal is to hold both, together.
The vendor try to earn a livelihood, The business that creates jobs. The citizen who expects safe food. The consumer whose health must be protected. And the regulator responsible for ensuring that the rules are followed.
Good governance is not about choosing one over another. It is about creating a ecosystem where livelihood, vibrant food culture and public health can coexist.
#TukaramMundhe #PublicHealth #FoodSafety #GoodGovernance #FDA
m.economictimes.com/news/india/we-…
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OWN IT.
That’s Leadership.
When you are entrusted with a public responsibility, you own it fully, not selectively, not when convenient, and not depending on who is on the other side of the inspection.
Good governance is not about the power to regulate. It is about the responsibility to protect.
Enforcement has meaning only when it is applied consistently, fairly and without exception to institutions of every size, standing and influence.
The credibility of a regulator is not built by acting against the weak or the visible. It is built by demonstrating that the same law applies to everyone.
That consistency, not any individual, is what builds public trust.
Food safety, ultimately, is not about inspections or enforcement for their own sake. It is about protecting people.
#TukaramMundhe #OwnIt #GoodGovernance #FoodSafety #PublicHealth #Rajdeepsardesai
indiatoday.in/opinion/story/…
That’s Leadership.
When you are entrusted with a public responsibility, you own it fully, not selectively, not when convenient, and not depending on who is on the other side of the inspection.
Good governance is not about the power to regulate. It is about the responsibility to protect.
Enforcement has meaning only when it is applied consistently, fairly and without exception to institutions of every size, standing and influence.
The credibility of a regulator is not built by acting against the weak or the visible. It is built by demonstrating that the same law applies to everyone.
That consistency, not any individual, is what builds public trust.
Food safety, ultimately, is not about inspections or enforcement for their own sake. It is about protecting people.
#TukaramMundhe #OwnIt #GoodGovernance #FoodSafety #PublicHealth #Rajdeepsardesai
indiatoday.in/opinion/story/…
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The most expensive part of a hospital bill may never touch the hospital at all.
A patient admitted for care has no way of knowing whether the price on a medical consumable reflects its actual cost or a markup fixed long before it ever reached the ward. That gap in information is, at its core, a public health issue.
A survey of hospital consumables in Maharashtra found an IV infusion set with a trade price of ₹11.05 carrying a printed MRP of ₹325 ; a markup of 2,841%. A syringe procured at ₹6.75 carried an MRP of ₹57.20. A catheter procured at ₹29.41 carried an MRP of ₹310.
These are not elective purchases. Patients cannot compare prices, seek alternatives, or question a number printed on a box while receiving care and the MRP itself is often fixed upstream by manufacturers and distributors, disconnected from the trade price by a wide, unexplained margin. The result is a system where the party bearing the cost has the least information to evaluate it.
The regulatory gap is structural: scheduled medicines are capped under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. Most medical devices and consumables are not leaving both the pricing and the information around it almost entirely unmonitored.
A review of these findings and clear guidelines on the permissible gap between trade procurement price and declared MRP have been recommended to the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the NPPA ; a step toward closing not just a pricing gap, but the information gap patients are left to bear alone.
#PublicHealth #GoodGovernance #Leadership #TukaramMundhe
moneycontrol.com/news/business/…
A patient admitted for care has no way of knowing whether the price on a medical consumable reflects its actual cost or a markup fixed long before it ever reached the ward. That gap in information is, at its core, a public health issue.
A survey of hospital consumables in Maharashtra found an IV infusion set with a trade price of ₹11.05 carrying a printed MRP of ₹325 ; a markup of 2,841%. A syringe procured at ₹6.75 carried an MRP of ₹57.20. A catheter procured at ₹29.41 carried an MRP of ₹310.
These are not elective purchases. Patients cannot compare prices, seek alternatives, or question a number printed on a box while receiving care and the MRP itself is often fixed upstream by manufacturers and distributors, disconnected from the trade price by a wide, unexplained margin. The result is a system where the party bearing the cost has the least information to evaluate it.
The regulatory gap is structural: scheduled medicines are capped under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. Most medical devices and consumables are not leaving both the pricing and the information around it almost entirely unmonitored.
A review of these findings and clear guidelines on the permissible gap between trade procurement price and declared MRP have been recommended to the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the NPPA ; a step toward closing not just a pricing gap, but the information gap patients are left to bear alone.
#PublicHealth #GoodGovernance #Leadership #TukaramMundhe
moneycontrol.com/news/business/…
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₹11.05 bought it. ₹325 billed it.
That’s the gap Maharashtra FDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe says a state survey found in the pricing of some hospital consumables—with markups reaching as high as 2,841%.
His post on X puts the issue bluntly:
“That gap in information is, at its ssue.”
The survey flagged steep differences across IV sets, syringes, catheters, nebulisers and oxygen masks. Mundhe has now sought a review of medical-device pricing rules and proposed tighter monitoring or trade-margin controls. Priyanka Sharma reports.
The question is how much a patient should reasonably be expected to pay, and how transparently that price is set.
@journo_priyanka | @Tukaram_IndIAS
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Public trust, Not visibility.
Public service is not a search for recognition. It is a commitment to responsibility.
Visibility may bring attention. Social media may amplify actions. But neither is the measure of good governance.
The real measure is whether citizens feel safer, institutions become more accountable, and people can trust that the system will stand up for what is right.
The purpose is public interest. The measure is public trust. For me, governance must ultimately be about strengthening institutions, not personalities.
An officer may come and go. But a trustworthy institution must endure.
#PublicService #PublicTrust #Governance #Accountability #PublicHealth #TukaramMundhe
bbc.com/news/articles/…
Public service is not a search for recognition. It is a commitment to responsibility.
Visibility may bring attention. Social media may amplify actions. But neither is the measure of good governance.
The real measure is whether citizens feel safer, institutions become more accountable, and people can trust that the system will stand up for what is right.
The purpose is public interest. The measure is public trust. For me, governance must ultimately be about strengthening institutions, not personalities.
An officer may come and go. But a trustworthy institution must endure.
#PublicService #PublicTrust #Governance #Accountability #PublicHealth #TukaramMundhe
bbc.com/news/articles/…
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Food safety is public health.
Every food-safety violation is not merely a regulatory breach; it can put someone’s health, safety and life at risk.
Food safety cannot be achieved without public awareness and stakeholder compliance.
#TukaramMundhe #PublicHealth
Every food-safety violation is not merely a regulatory breach; it can put someone’s health, safety and life at risk.
Food safety cannot be achieved without public awareness and stakeholder compliance.
#TukaramMundhe #PublicHealth
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