CHANDIGARH: All Army personnel will now be provided dressed frozen chicken that will be approved by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) as butcheries at all Army stations across the country will be closed shortly. Till now, contractors supplied live chicken to Army units.
Each personnel of the 14 lakh-strong Army will get 170-180 gram chicken per day, which will be supplied from FSSAI-approved centres, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points and ISO 22000-certified plants only. The Army has so far ordered about 20,000 tonnes of chicken.
The new rule came into effect on April 1. Eight to 10 chicken processing plants will now supply to the Army. The processing plants have been allotted tenders of Army stations by commands on the basis of lowest bids. Frozen chicken was being supplied to 26 Army stations over the past three years under a pilot project.
“Slaughterhouses run by the Army in cantonments did not have FSSI certification,” an officer said.
The then defence minister Manohar Parrikar had said in January that directions had been issued to ensure supply of FSSAI-approved frozen chicken i to all units. A few months ago, BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav in a YouTube video had alleged poor-quality food being served to paramilitary troops.