For the first time, the health department of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is organising a food license mela. The three-day event, which started on Thursday, is kind of a workshop-cum-fair. On Thursday, the department had received 112 applications and issued 17 licenses.

"For some food joint registration and getting license, it takes two weeks to a months' time. For the first time, we have organised this mela where one can get the registration done within a day and license can e issued, if the applicant has all the necessary documents handy," said Dr Bhavin Solanki, in-charge medical officer of health, AMC.

According to Dr Solanki, this initiative will shorten the process of getting registration or license. "Many times, when somebody applies for the license, they may not know what documents are required. 

Collecting documents and verifying them takes quite a bit of time. During the mela, we have created a temporary department with designated people who will cross check and verify the document immediately," Dr Solanki said.

For registration, the civic body had received 114 applications and issued certificates to 63 units. So far, the health department has issued 3,499 licenses while 9,961 units ha-ve been registered as eateries.