Mumbai: In a significant move aimed at strengthening food safety and public health standards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, has issued a comprehensive compliance order applicable to hotels, restaurants, eateries, and all food service establishments across the state.

The order, issued by the Commissioner of the Maharashtra FDA, reiterates that every food business operator must strictly adhere to the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the regulations framed under it. It emphasizes that consumers have a fundamental right to receive safe, wholesome, and unadulterated food.

According to the order, inspections conducted by the department have revealed instances of non-compliance in several food establishments, prompting the need for stricter enforcement and uniform standards across the hospitality sector.

The directive highlights the responsibility of restaurants and hotels to maintain hygienic food preparation practices, comply with licensing and registration requirements, ensure proper storage and handling of ingredients, and follow prescribed standards relating to packaging, labelling, contaminants, and food additives.

The FDA has also stressed that public health protection is a constitutional obligation and that food service operators must play an active role in safeguarding consumers from unsafe or adulterated food.

Officials have indicated that compliance with the order will be closely monitored, and violations may invite regulatory action under the Food Safety and Standards Act and related rules.

The move is expected to enhance food safety standards across Maharashtra and reinforce accountability among food businesses while protecting the interests of millions of consumers who dine at hotels and restaurants every day.

Mumbai, June 25: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Thursday claimed that the Mahayuti government’s move to present supplementary demands of Rs 97,706.40 crore, barely three months after the annual budget 2026-27, exposes the deterioration in Maharashtra’s financial discipline.

The party said that with public debt soaring to nearly Rs 11 lakh crore, an annual interest burden of Rs 60,000 crore and arbitrary spending from the state treasury, the economy of the Maharashtra government has completely collapsed.

The Thackeray camp, in a scathing editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, taunted that the present situation mirrors an economics student who attaches supplement after supplement to their answer sheet during an exam, only to barely secure a passing grade when the results are announced. “Maharashtra’s ‘supplementary’ champion government is publicly making a mockery of the state’s devastated economy by setting records in supplementary demands,” it remarked.

The editorial argued that for any government, having to hold out a begging bowl for supplementary demands right after the budget is highly embarrassing. “The state government’s financial planning has completely derailed due to reckless extravagance on non-productive activities. Maharashtra once enjoyed an excellent reputation for its financial discipline, but over the last four years, this reputation has completely withered away. During these past four years, the Mahayuti government has gone on a relentless spree of bringing supplementary demands of nearly Rs 5 lakh crore. This is a world record for extra-budgetary spending,” said the editorial.

The Thackeray camp said that ideally, supplementary demands should be utilised just days before the next budget if allocated funds run short at the end of the fiscal year or if a new scheme is suddenly launched. “Today, however, allocations are intentionally concealed in the main budget, and thousands of crores are later demanded through supplementary routes to serve political motives. This time, the government has crossed all limits. With nine full months remaining until the next budget, the government’s revenue and expenditure estimates collapsed within the first three months,” it commented.

The editorial said ironically, when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was in power and presented significantly lower supplementary demands, leaders of the current regime — who were then in the opposition — criticised them fiercely, alleging a total breakdown of financial discipline. “Today, those very opposition leaders serve as the state’s Chief Minister and Finance Minister. Despite supplementary demands crossing Rs 5 lakh crore in four years under their watch, they no longer view it as financial indiscipline,” it added.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena sarcastically said the ‘Supplementary-Champion’ government is setting a record for supplementary demands and publicly humiliating the economy of a state that was once renowned for its financial discipline. The government is out in the open, single-handedly dismantling the economic legacy of a state once revered for its financial rectitude.

Mumbai, June 24, 2026: Senior Samajwadi Party leader and MLA from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, Abu Asim Azmi, raised the issue of private schools running in slums (slum areas) in the House during the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly. He has demanded that the FIR registered against the principal, secretaries and chairman of these schools be withdrawn immediately and these schools should be saved from closure. Addressing the House, Abu Asim Azmi said, “My constituency Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar is a very poor and backward area. Around 30 to 35 thousand children are studying in private schools here. The capacity of BMC schools in this area has been completely exhausted and there is a long waiting list of children for new admissions. In such a situation, these private schools are the only support for the education of poor children.

Key demands and points:
Relaxation of conditions and regularization

The conditions of the government for approving schools such as open space, playground, etc. are practically impossible to meet in slum areas. Therefore, the government should make special laws for these areas and regularize them. FIRs registered against the management of these schools in Shivaji Nagar and Deonar police stations The R should be withdrawn immediately. He said that the result of these schools is more than 90 percent and their educational standard is better than BMC schools. Here, teachers are teaching children for a meager salary of just Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 7,000. He added that there has been a delay in the formation of the committee. In the last meeting, the government had also assured to form an inquiry committee on this issue, but no committee has been formed so far. Abu Asim Azmi warned that if these schools are closed due to administrative action, the future of 30 to 35 thousand poor children will be completely dark. He has strongly appealed to the government to intervene in this matter immediately.