New Delhi: State government-run bhavans or guesthouses in the national capital are not only popular among political leaders, but the food at some of their canteens is also a huge hit among the general public.
However, ThePrint has learnt that most of these bhavans have been running without health licences from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), despite being sent a warning in October last year. The only state guesthouse with the requisite permission is Andhra Bhavan.
A health licence evaluates the infrastructure (lodging facilities) and the ability of an establishment to run a functional kitchen. It is mandatory and has to be renewed every three years.
The NDMC, an autonomous body under the union home ministry, is now looking to send another warning to the state guesthouses to comply with the requirements and seek a health licence, or face punitive action, a senior NDMC official told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
“Only one or two of them have responded to the letter we sent in October. The only one that has permission, as far as I can recall, is Andhra Bhavan,” the official said.
The list of state guesthouses includes Arunachal Bhavan, Assam Bhavan, Bihar Bhavan, Goa Sadan, Haryana Bhavan, Himachal Bhavan, J&K House, Karnataka Bhavan, Kerala House, Madhya Pradesh Bhavan, Maharashtra Sadan, Manipur Bhavan, Meghalaya House, Mizoram House, Nagaland House, Punjab Bhavan, Odisha Nivas, Rajasthan House, Sikkim House, Tamil Nadu House, Telangana Bhavan, Tripura Bhavan, Uttarakhand Sadan, Uttar Pradesh Bhavan and Banga Bhavan.
Clueless about licences
The state guesthouses ThePrint reached were clueless about whether they had a health licence.
While Tamil Nadu House officials said they’d “get back” on whether or not they received the letter, Punjab Bhavan officials thought a health licence meant permission to run an in-house dispensary.
“I have no knowledge of whether such a letter was received, but I don’t think we have such a health licence,” said Ghanshyam Sharma, a sub-divisional engineer at Punjab Bhavan.
The Goa Sadan said it had received the letter, but the superintendent (resident commissioner) couldn’t confirm if it had obtained a licence yet.
The superintendent at the Himachal Bhavan said it was likely that it “had not applied for a licence”.
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Bhavans were warned
According to the NDMC official, most of the bhavans are yet to respond to the letter sent by the Council in October last year.
The letter directed the state guesthouses to “ascertain the factual position” regarding whether the establishment had a health licence. It mentioned this was mandated under the NDMC Act, 1994, citing section 325 to 333.
“It has been noted that in various state guest houses… are operating without a health licence,” reads the letter from October. “In case (the state guest houses are) operating such facilities (lodging, restaurant/tea shop/coffee house) without statutory said licence… closure notice could be issued by the Health Licencing Department of the NDMC,” it stated.
The letter urged the state guesthouses to take action on a “priority” basis to avoid punitive action.
However, the official said, “they are least concerned about any of this. But we have to be careful, so even our letter is worded very politely… We are planning to send another letter soon. Let’s see what happens after that.”
Digital process
The NDMC has digitised the health licence process, but has still failed to find takers among these state government-run establishments.
“We have streamlined the process of obtaining a licence,” the NDMC official told ThePrint.
“It’s all online now. Moreover, by eliminating middlemen, we have also reduced chances of corruption. But they still don’t bother applying. They are arrogant and think they can get away with it.”
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