Hyderabad: IAS officer RV Karnan landed at Telangana’s Food Safety Department not with a whimper but with a bang. In 72 days, the new food safety commissioner inspected 129 restaurants, pubs and eateries in Hyderabad alone, and issued 90 show cause notices.
Across the city’s high-end restaurants and popular eateries, his name is spoken in whispers—he is the “fearless”, “out-of-syllabus”, modern-day Singham. Waiters tremble, head chefs shudder, and managers begin to sweat when Karnan’s task force is on the move.
Nobody knows when and where he will strike next.
Unafraid of power or pressure
The raids began on 16 April and haven’t stopped since. Karnan is not just checking school canteens and hostel messes, he’s going after well-known eateries, pubs, and fine-dining restaurants.
“No one expected inspections of this kind. It has never happened. He [Karnan] came ‘out-of-syllabus’,” said Gopichand, training front-desk manager at Royalton Hotel. Shah Ghouse, Pista House, Rameshwaram Cafe, Taco Bell, Baskin Robbins, La Pino’s Pizza, Paradise Food Court, and Baahubali Kitchen were among the many popular restaurants that failed to pass muster. Karnan even raided the warehouses of delivery apps and found them wanting.
By all accounts, Karnan is not intimidated by big brands, bribes, or bad publicity. He has other, more important concerns: stale or adulterated food, insects, and poor hygiene.
“He’s unafraid of their power or pressure. The goal is to feed delicious and healthy food to the people of Telangana,” said T Vijaya Kumar, who retired as deputy food controller of Telangana on 10 June.
The amping up of inspections and raids is part of the Telangana government’s mission to reclaim Hyderabad’s image as a food paradise. The city has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons: In January, 15 people were hospitalised after eating shawarma from a popular food outlet. Last year, at least 30 patrons of a mandi (meat and rice) restaurant suffered food poisoning.
“Our endeavour is to provide quality and hygienic food, and create awareness among the public about food quality and standards that must be practised.”
—RV Karnan, commissioner of food safety, Telangana
“Hyderabad is known globally for its biryani. We must not compromise on food quality,” Telangana health minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha declared during an 11 June meeting he and Karnan held to warn health, hotel, and food industry associations.
Karnan’s task force is at the centre of this mission, but he keeps a low profile in the media. He is not one to make war talk or grandiose statements. But as Telangana’s National Health Mission (NHM) director as well as its food safety commissioner, he wants to change people’s mindset that restaurant kitchens will always be unhygienic.
“Our endeavour is to provide quality and hygienic food, and create awareness among the public about food quality and standards that must be practised,” said Karnan.
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Cockroaches, expired food items
On 23 May, three officers stormed into Baahubali Kitchen, a popular restaurant in the IT hub of Madhapur in the quiet hours between the lunch and dinner rush. They flashed their IDs at the manager and marched straight into the kitchen.
Inside, away from the public gaze, there was chaos. Cockroaches were scuttling over dirty utensils and food items in the storeroom. The team also found synthetic food colours. All the violations with detailed photos and video clips were posted on the official handle on X.
“Heavy cockroach infestation observed in kitchen and cockroaches found on food articles inside store room. Pest Control Records not found,” read the post. Attached was a video showing a critter scurrying in a jar of cookies. Within 20 minutes, the team was on the move to its next inspection site.
A few weeks later, on a weekday evening, the restaurant was almost empty. The white chairs and tables along the red brick walls were unoccupied. In the outdoor seating area, seven or eight young men were gorging on chicken tikka and biryani.
“It’s only 5 pm,” said restaurant manager Pawan Kumar. “The raid hasn’t affected footfall. People still trust us and our food. If a customer brings up their reservations about hygiene, we take them to our kitchen for a look around,” he added.
The same day Karnan’s team raided Baahubali Kitchen, they also inspected the venerable Rameshwaram Cafe, located in the same neighbourhood.
“Urad Dal (100Kg) stock found expired in Mar’24 worth Rs. 16K. Nandini Curd (10kg), Milk (8L) worth Rs. 700 found expired,” posted the commissioner on X with photos. All the items were discarded.
Digital platforms like the one started by blogger Kamiya Jani of Curly Tales and mainstream local media reported the drama—never before had Hyderabad seen such raids on high-profile restaurants.
A senior staff member at Rameshwaram Cafe insisted that the expired ingredients had been stored away in a separate room for disposal.
“We have a process to dispose of expired food items, which requires the approval of the management first. We had no intention of serving it to customers,” said the staff member. “But because the items were kept on the premises, it was seen as a violation.”
While restaurants like Baahubali Kitchen were spared with just a warning, Karnan has taken strict actions against those guilty of violating food safety and hygiene rules extensively.
On 23 May, his task force also raided a warehouse of BigBasket in Kondapur’s Masjid Banda and found expired items including chicken masala, chicken sausages, pizza cheese, paneer, ice cream and almond fudge. The team also found edible oil leaking from sachets and contaminating other food items on the rack. The warehouse’s licence remains suspended.
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Implementing the Dalit Bandhu scheme
In the corridors of power, Karnan’s transfer from Nalgonda’s district collector to NHM director in December 2023 was noteworthy. Along with two other key appointments, it signalled an overhaul in the health wing by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi-led state government.
By March 2024, Karnan was given the additional post of food safety commissioner. He was at Nalgonda for only three months before the transfer, but he spent two years (2021-23) as district collector of Karimnagar.
Lenin Vatsal Toppo, additional collector (local bodies) in Mahabubabad, recalled the invaluable lessons he learned from Karnan during his training in Karimnagar: “Dedication, putting people first, and efficiency.”
Karnan also successfully implemented the BRS government’s flagship Dalit Bandhu scheme. Under the welfare initiative, an SC household is entitled to a “one-time capital of Rs. 10 lakh as a 100% grant/subsidy” to launch income-generating businesses.
The scheme created over 2,100 entrepreneurs in Karimnagar. Funds of about Rs 1,800 crore were distributed to Dalit families, said S Nagarjuna, executive director of Schedule Caste Corporation, Karimnagar.
“[Karnan] made sure that everyone was on board—from lower-rank officials to district officers—to get the scheme up and running. And he stayed on top of it,” said Nagarjuna. The success rate of this government scheme was reported to be highest in Karimnagar: 99 per cent.
One of the beneficiaries, 35-year-old Kalyan, lost his job during the pandemic and is now the sole dealer of American Tourister in Karimnagar. Another beneficiary, Duppati Dinesh, who worked as a milk packet distributor for almost seven years, opened his own garment store with the help of his wife Swetha. Every month they sell clothes worth Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000. Although their profit margins are on the lower side, they are excited about the future of their nascent business.
“It has given us wings to fly. The next target is to start a shop for men’s garments in the same lane,” Swetha said.
In February 2023, a transgender individual, for the first time in Karimnagar, secured a loan to launch their own business through the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme. In the same month, Karimnagar achieved another first by issuing a four-wheeler driving licence to a transgender person.
Karnan also encouraged the transgender community in the district to register on the voter list last year. As of June 2023, over 17 transgender persons had successfully enrolled.
“I cannot recall a situation or an incident where he said: ‘I can’t help you.’ He hates being stuck and helpless,” Nagarjuna said.
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Secrecy and transparency
Karnan, a 2012 batch IAS officer, plays his cards close to his chest, operating with strategic secrecy. The targets of his scrutiny—restaurants, kitchens, warehouses—are known to him alone. His three-member task force is given details only in the morning during the 9 am briefing with Karnan. By 7 pm, the task force wraps up its investigation and the findings are shared on the X handle of Telangana’s commissioner of food safety.
Even the identity of the task force team is not public information.
“Who are these officers? Only RV Karnan and I know,” said Kumar, the now-retired deputy food controller of Hyderabad. “Their contact numbers are disconnected. They are not allowed to speak to anyone.”
This secrecy, said department officers, is one way to protect the team from threats—and bribes. It’s in stark contrast to the transparency with which the department shares its findings on X. The handle was set up only in March this year, but since the team started posting details of its raids with videos and photos of violations, it has amassed more than 29,000 followers.
It’s the first time the department is using social media to disseminate information and create awareness around hygiene and food standards among patrons.
For Karnan, who is also the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare—he was assigned the post in December 2023—secrecy and transparency appear to be two sides of the same coin.
He’s all about the job. “No bakwaas, only kaam ki baat (No useless talk, only work),” said a food safety officer who did not want to be named.
“Call him at 7 in the morning or at midnight, sir [RV Karnan] will always answer your query.”
—T Vijaya Kumar, retired deputy food controller, Telangana
Kumar dubs Karnan as “the new-age Robin Hood”. And going by the comments on social media, the IAS officer has the support of the public—not just in Hyderabad but from other cities as well. One user urged Mumbai’s civic body to take note.
“IAS officer RV Karnan is giving hotels/Restaurants/eateries a run for their business” a social media user posted on X. “Great job! Public health cannot be taken for granted,” replied one of the commenters. It’s probably the first time people know who their food safety commissioner is.
The local media has been covering the raids with equal enthusiasm. ‘New State Food Safety Chief Starts Cracking the Whip’, reads one headline. It noted that before Karnan took charge of the office, “there was hardly any enforcement activity” by his predecessors, the directorate of the Institute of Preventive Medicine, or the food administration.
Even details of the 11 June meeting with the health minister and stakeholders in the food and restaurant industry were posted online. In fact, Narasimha has urged Karnan and his team to ramp up random food testing.
“Call him at 7 in the morning or at midnight, sir [RV Karnan] will always answer your query,” said Kumar. Karnan is never off-duty.
Restaurant managers and proprietors who have been raided are not so enthusiastic in their praise. The kitchen staff is on edge. The task force will surely be back; they just don’t know when.
“We’ve noted every detail of the FSSAI regulations to ensure we don’t fall short again,” said Pawan from Baahubali Kitchen. “We are ready.”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
Wonderful. Atleast some part of the government is working. Hope he is made incharge of public cleanliness also.
Sir good going excellent job 👏 please be strong and strictly , because this all restaurants are making good money with customer’s playing with their life’s using 2nd grade groceries items like oil masala s etc. I also request department to make mandatory of putting Sticker of food safety department with contact detail or WhatsApp number at entrance in All Restaurant’s so customer can make complaints easily and immediately.
Food adultration is too much in India and this will be a serious concern and everyone should take respinsibility to control instead of once publicity for some time. It is damaging india health. I sicerely request all IAS and IPS officers to sincerely work towards building India as you have chosen noble profession with power and authority. It should not be used for selfish money and act like a psuedo politicians.
This is the need of the hour.
What about road side eateries in Madhapur IT corridor supplying sub standard food and promoted by stars and youtubers?