Archive · 7 Sep 2026
Mundhe Puts Public Health Ahead of Popularity in FDA Crackdown
Tukaram Mundhe leads Maharashtra’s department that checks food and medicines for safety.
He says his goal is to protect people, not become famous.
His department has inspected many businesses and warned or suspended some of them.
He says common restaurant problems include poor hygiene, unsafe ingredients and untrained workers.
Mundhe also says food-delivery companies and online pharmacies must follow safety laws.
He believes unsafe food and medicines are a large public-health problem.
The FDA is working through a backlog of laboratory tests and is building four new laboratories.
He defended action against Cipla, but said a hearing was accidentally held on a public holiday.
He also discussed making school food healthier and regulating high prices for hospital supplies.
Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe said public health, rather than personal popularity, drives his visible enforcement campaign.
Since taking charge in May 2026, the FDA reported action against 12,083 entities, 5,269 improvement notices and 603 suspension orders.
The FDA reported 1,803 inspections of hotels, restaurants and eateries, with 948 improvement notices and 199 license suspensions.
Mundhe described food safety as a major public-health crisis and highlighted laboratory backlogs, medicines, hospital-consumable prices and school diets.
He defended the FDA’s Cipla action while acknowledging that a hearing was mistakenly scheduled on a public holiday and has been reissued.
- Who
- Tukaram Mundhe, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, and the FDA he leads.
- What
- Mundhe discussed the FDA’s food- and drug-safety enforcement, laboratory capacity, school food rules, online platforms, medicine prices and the Cipla case.
- When
- The measures and interviews cover Mundhe’s first 100 days and the period since he became commissioner in May 2026.
- Where
- Maharashtra, including inspections across the state and Cipla’s Pune unit.
- Why
- Mundhe said stronger regulation is needed because food and medicines directly affect public health.
FDA’s Defense
Criticism and Concerns
Visibility and enforcement
FDA’s Defense
Mundhe said press conferences and public orders are intended to explain regulations and improve compliance, not promote him personally. He described his approach as diligent rather than aggressive.
Criticism and Concerns
His highly visible crackdown and public profile have prompted questions about whether an unusually assertive style could create political or administrative pressure.
Cipla due process
FDA’s Defense
Mundhe said the FDA followed due process before cancelling Cipla Pharma’s drug-sale licenses over storage and handling irregularities, describing the public-holiday hearing as a minor error and saying the notice was reissued.
Criticism and Concerns
The Bombay High Court criticized the handling of the case and directed the FDA to issue a fresh show-cause notice, raising concerns about the procedure used.
School food rules
FDA’s Defense
Mundhe said the balanced-diet order applied an existing regulation, was necessary for healthier school food and had received positive responses from parents after initial resistance.
Criticism and Concerns
The order faced backlash, and some students, including Mundhe’s children, were reportedly affected by criticism and trolling at school.
Online platform responsibility
FDA’s Defense
Mundhe said food-delivery platforms are food business operators under the law and that the FDA has taken action against them; he also said online pharmacies must follow drug laws.
Criticism and Concerns
Mundhe said food-delivery platforms do not consider themselves food business operators, creating a dispute over their legal responsibility for food safety.
- Entities acted against
- The FDA reported action against 12,083 entities since Mundhe took charge in May 2026.
- General enforcement
- The department reported 5,269 improvement notices and 603 suspension orders.
- Food inspections
- Hotels, restaurants and eateries underwent 1,803 inspections; 948 improvement notices and 199 license suspensions were reported.
- Laboratory backlog
- About 14,000 samples were pending when Mundhe joined; more than 32,000 of over 35,000 processed samples had been tested within three months.
- New laboratories
- Four new FDA laboratories have been sanctioned or are being constructed to expand testing capacity.
- Pharmaceutical enforcement
- In one reported three-month period, 2,485 pharmaceutical manufacturers, blood centres, storage centres and approved laboratories were inspected; 230 licenses were suspended and 38 cancelled.
- Drug-inspector recruitment
- The recruitment examination was cancelled after a confidentiality breach; seven arrests were reported in connection with the question-paper leak.
