NEW DELHI: Two months ago when petrol pump scam was busted in UP, Delhi Food and Supplies Minister Imraan Hussain had ordered an audit of all 400 petrol pumps in the city. In UP, the petrol pump owners were found using chip-based devices to dispense lower quantities of petrol to consumers than what they paid for.
Hussain had ordered the forming of various teams comprising an official each from Indian Oil, Weights and Measures wing of Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Department and Delhi police. But such is the predicament of the Food and Civil Supplies Department that they have just one inspector per 56,000 people on their rolls.
Delhi, with a population of nearly 1.68 crore has just 30 food inspectors against the 60 sanctioned posts.
It's the responsibility of these inspectors to inspect weighing and measuring equipment and techniques used in various trades. They ensure that weighing machines in grocery shops, steel meters for measuring cloth, and petrol dispensers have the verification stamp of the department. But due to staff shortage, the department is able to check only 50 per cent of the petrol stations in the city.
Though the department had written to the Delhi government to fill up the vacancies, no response is forthcoming.
Prashant K Panda, Special Commissioner, weights and measures wing, says, “If one looks at the population and compares the services being offered, the workforce we have is not enough. As per a survey done by the department in 2007, the department requires 60 inspectors. But in all these years, Delhi’s population has vastly increased. 30 posts are yet to be filled. We have sent a letter to the government regarding this in April, but to no avail.”
There are 208,978 wholesale trade establishments and 647,499 retail establishments in Delhi.