THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The food safety department in Kerala has decided to allow private laboratories to conduct health check-ups and issue health cards for food handlers by March 31, which is the deadline fixed by the department.
The decision was made after it was found that the government health system was too slow and inadequate to meet the demand. From April 1, all food handlers will be required to obtain health cards as part of measures to improve food safety.
Earlier the deadlines were extended thrice as the 25-lakh workforce in the food industry could not take the health cards. “We have agreed to cooperate with the government’s health card mandate. But we could not send our employees to government hospitals due to practical difficulties. Often the employees could not complete the check-up and obtain the lab results in two or three visits,” said KP Balakrishna Poduval, general secretary of Kerala Hotel & Restaurant Association (KHRA).
According to him, the private agencies reported the results in a couple of hours, without affecting the functions of the hotels.
The private agencies arranged camps for the employees in a locality to conduct health checkups with the help of doctors and diagnostic facilities. The employer had to spend Rs 350 to Rs 400 for an employee. According to KHRA, around 75% of the employees have taken the card.
While the department has mandated typhoid vaccination for food handlers, employers are concerned about losing migrant workers due to the stigma associated with vaccination.
“Despite our assurance, the employees from North and East India do not want injections. They somehow connect the vaccination to the sterilisation drive carried out during an emergency,” said Poduval.
Healthy way