Civic bodies want 'license raj' in Delhi, claims AAP

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday condemned the decision of BJP-led MCDs to oppose the Delhi government’s proposal to do away with the health trade license from local civic agencies for restaurants and accused them of wanting “License Raj” in the capital.

AAP MLA and spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the real reason for the opposition to the proposal is because it will put a stop to bribes for officials. 

​“Ideally, the MCD officials should come and visit the restaurant or the hotel before giving the certificate. However, in Delhi, the municipal corporations take bribes from the businesses to issue this license,” alleged AAP leader. 

“MCD health officials also visit the hotels or restaurants before every festival to collect bribes,” he added. As per the current set up, MCD gives health trade licenses to all the restaurants and hotels.

The license certifies that a particular restaurant or hotel serves healthy food material. The restaurants are required to renew this certificate every year. To bring relief to restaurant owners, the Delhi government has initiated the process to abolish health trade licenses from local bodies.

This was decided in a meeting chaired by CM Arvind Kejriwal and attended by representatives of the industry. 

“FSSAI wrote a letter on September 7 to all municipal corporations of Delhi saying that it checks the standards of food and safety of all the hotels and restaurants, therefore, there was no need to issue separate certificates by the MCDs,” Bhardwaj added.