Shillong, Aug 28: Health Minister Wailadmiki Shylla on Friday defended supplementary demand of Rs 2.37 crore for food safety, saying funds needed for salaries of new Food Safety Officers and lab staff.
The Rs 2,37,15,000 includes Rs 1.98 crore for officers and Rs 39.15 lakh for contractual staff at State Food Testing Laboratory, Pasteur Hills.
“Enforcement does not end with collection of samples,” Shylla told Assembly, saying samples must be coded, tested and reported under Food Safety and Standards Act.
The Minister said 13 Food Safety Officers were appointed on December 9, 2025 through the Meghalaya Public Service Commission (MPSC) after the 2026-27 budget was submitted, leaving no provision for salaries. Posts were advertised April 8, the written test held on July 12, interviews on October 29-30.
He said the laboratory, established 1981, is the state’s only one with 21 contractual staff — two Research Assistants, 18 Technical Assistants, a Junior Chemist. The Research Assistants and Junior Chemist are paid Rs 25,000 per month, while Technical Assistants receive Rs 20,000.
The contractual staff were initially funded by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), but that funding was later discontinued. The state subsequently absorbed the expenditure to ensure the laboratory continued to function.
Shylla said the department carried out 788 food safety inspections in 2023-24, 1,143 in 2024-25 and 1,825 in 2025-26, taking the total to 3,756 inspections.
During the same three-year period, 2,844 regulatory samples were collected. Of these, 22 were found to be substandard and seven unsafe.
The department also tested 5,741 surveillance samples, of which 94 were found substandard and 19 unsafe.
As part of its monitoring of fish, the department tested 3,329 samples over the three years. Thirty samples tested positive for formalin in 2023-24, leading to a 15-day ban on imported fish from June 8, 2023.
For milk and milk products, 80 samples were collected and all 80 analysis reports were received, with none found to be non-conforming.
The department collected 36 samples of fresh fruits and vegetables, but received only 10 analysis reports as the remaining samples decomposed during transit and could not be tested.
A total of 79 samples of meat and meat products, fish and fish products, and eggs and egg products were collected, with no non-conforming sample recorded.
Similarly, 141 samples of food grains, including pulses, rice, wheat, oats, millets, lentils and green grams, were tested, with none found to be non-conforming.
The department also collected 72 samples of confectionery products, including chocolate, with no non-conforming sample recorded.
Shylla urged the House to pass the demand.
