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By:

Amol Deshmukh and Vaibhav Mathkari

5 March 2025 at 11:13:08 pm

Can Maharashtra’s Food Industry Take Civic Responsibility?

The food industry can turn everyday business practices into everyday civic action. AI generated image We all love eating out. Maharashtra’s food culture is inseparable from its identity. From a small vada pav stall to a five-star hotel, and from a family restaurant to a large wedding caterer, food businesses are part of everyday life. What responsibility does a food business have towards the citizen? Is serving tasty food enough? Or should restaurants also minimise food and plastic waste,...

Can Maharashtra’s Food Industry Take Civic Responsibility?

The food industry can turn everyday business practices into everyday civic action. AI generated image We all love eating out. Maharashtra’s food culture is inseparable from its identity. From a small vada pav stall to a five-star hotel, and from a family restaurant to a large wedding caterer, food businesses are part of everyday life. What responsibility does a food business have towards the citizen? Is serving tasty food enough? Or should restaurants also minimise food and plastic waste, maintain clean kitchens, use safe ingredients, manage waste responsibly and avoid traffic problems outside their premises? Several countries are already asking these questions. Japan has made reducing food loss a national priority, bringing businesses, government agencies and citizens together to prevent usable food from becoming waste. France has taken steps to reduce single-use plastics, including plastic drinking-water bottles in collective catering. Singapore requires large commercial premises to segregate and manage food waste. The European Union is also working to reduce unnecessary single-use plastics and promote circular packaging. Maharashtra need not copy them. But they offer one lesson: civic responsibility cannot rest with the government alone. The food industry has a major role to play. What if Maharashtra took up an 11-point challenge? Imagine major hotels, restaurants, caterers and food establishments voluntarily adopting a civic charter. First, reduce food waste. Large kitchens should track daily waste and aim to cut it by 25 per cent and then 50 per cent. Food safe for consumption should, wherever possible and legally appropriate, be redirected for human consumption. The rest should go for composting, biogas or other scientific treatment. Second, reduce unnecessary plastic water bottles. If safe drinking water is available, why automatically give every customer a plastic bottle? Maharashtra can develop a model using glass, steel and refill systems. Third, rethink packaging. Food delivery has created mountains of packaging. Do we really need all this plastic? Reusable, recyclable and genuinely sustainable alternatives should be preferred. Fourth, end open dumping of food waste. Restaurants should not send organic waste to roadside dumping points. Segregation and treatment should be part of commercial food-waste management. Fifth, make healthy choices available. Menus should include lower-salt, lower-sugar and nutritionally balanced options. This is about choice, not telling people what to eat. Sixth, use cooking oil responsibly. Restaurants should record its use and replacement and ensure used oil goes through authorised channels. Food safety and environmental responsibility should go together. Seventh, make kitchen hygiene a culture, not a certificate. The World Health Organization’s principles are simple: keep clean; separate raw and cooked food; cook properly; maintain safe temperatures; and use safe water and raw materials. The challenge is making them daily habits. Eighth, give consumers a voice. A QR code could allow customers to report serious food-safety concerns through a system that records and follows up complaints. Ninth, use technology intelligently. Artificial intelligence, sensors and digital systems can monitor temperature, hygiene schedules, waste segregation and other safety parameters. Tenth, think beyond the kitchen. If customers block footpaths, roads or emergency entrances, restaurants should help manage the situation. A successful restaurant should not become a problem for its neighbourhood. Finally, the Safe Food Oath. Can Maharashtra’s food industry voluntarily pledge that no known unsafe substance will knowingly be used in food? The proposed oath could state: “We pledge that we shall not knowingly use any carcinogenic, teratogenic, hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic or allergenic substance as a colouring agent, flavour or taste enhancer, adulterant, sweetener, or preservative or for any other food-processing purpose. We shall use only legally permitted and scientifically evaluated ingredients and additives and maintain transparency and accountability in the preparation and serving of food.” This is not a call to ban every chemical or synthetic food additive. Many are legally permitted after safety evaluation. The point is simple: unsafe substances should never be shortcuts for making food cheaper, brighter, sweeter or more attractive. Civic Food Industry Award Maharashtra could take the idea further by inviting the food and hospitality industry to adopt an 11-point Civic Food Industry Charter. Those meeting the standards could be independently assessed and recognised through a Maharashtra Civic Food Industry Award. The award would ask not only, “How good is your food?” But also, how much food did you save? How much plastic did you eliminate? How safely do you manage your kitchen? What happens to your food waste? Are your ingredients safe? Do you respect the neighbourhood? That would give “hospitality” a deeper meaning. Maharashtra has the institutions, entrepreneurs, technology and, most importantly, a food industry large enough to make a difference. The government can make regulations. Citizens can demand better standards. But the food industry can lead by choice. So the question before Maharashtra’s hotels, restaurants, caterers and food businesses is simple: Are you ready to accept the challenge — not just to serve citizens, but to take responsibility for them? (Deshmukh is a forensics scientist. Mathkari is co-founder, Civic Engineering Foundation.)

On Operation Safed Sagar anniversary, IAF highlights role of air power in Kargil and now

  • PTI
  • May 26, 2025
  • 2 min read


The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday marked the anniversary of Operation Safed Sagar, which was launched during the 1999 Kargil War between India and Pakistan.


The IAF stated that the operation aimed at “flushing out Pakistani regulars and intruders” who had taken control of Indian positions along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.


“This was the first large-scale use of air power in the Kashmir region since the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Never before had an air force been tasked with such high-altitude precision operations in rugged mountainous terrain – making it a watershed moment in military aviation history,” the Air Force said in a post on X.


The IAF said Operation Safed Sagar involved the use of aircraft such as Mirage 2000s, MiG-21s, Mi-17s, Jaguars, MiG-23s, MiG-27s, Chetak helicopters, and MiG-29s, and described the mission as a “trailblazer” in many ways.


“It saw air power employed in unconventional roles, demonstrated the effectiveness of limited use of air assets in a localised conflict, and shattered the long-held notion that use of air power would inevitably escalate into full-scale war,” the post read.


“The operation not only showcased the versatility and resolve of the Indian Air Force but also established the deterrent value of calibrated air strikes – even in a low-intensity conflict. It proved that air power could decisively alter the course of battle without crossing international boundaries,” it added.


The Kargil War lasted for nearly three months on the icy heights of the Kargil mountains. It began in May 1999 when Pakistani troops and terrorists occupied peaks in the Kargil sector.


In response, India launched Operation Vijay to reclaim the occupied territory and successfully regained control by July 26 – a date now commemorated as Kargil Vijay Diwas.


The anniversary of Operation Safed Sagar comes just days after the Indian armed forces carried out strikes on Pakistani air bases.


India targeted these air bases in response to Pakistan’s drone and missile attacks that were aimed at civilian areas and military infrastructure in India’s western sector. These attacks came after Operation Sindoor, which was launched in retaliation for a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, last month.


Operation Sindoor

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting multiple terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians.


The Indian armed forces destroyed nine terror camps belonging to groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen, killing over 100 terrorists.


Following these overnight operations by Indian forces, Pakistan responded with drone and missile attacks on India’s western regions. However, the Indian military successfully intercepted them. In return, India struck selected military targets deep inside Pakistan.


After four days of heavy cross-border drone and missile exchanges, both countries agreed to a ceasefire last Saturday, bringing immediate halt to military actions.

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