Polarising diktat

THE strongest criticism of Himachal Pradesh’s Congress government mandating food outlets to display the names and addresses of the owners has come from within the party. Senior leader TS Singh Deo has termed the decision reprehensible and discriminatory. Minister Vikramaditya Singh, who gallantly made the announcement, has been reprimanded by the top brass for landing the party in an indefensible situation. The Congress had vehemently opposed a similar move by the Uttar Pradesh Government during the Kanwar Yatra. The Supreme Court may have put on hold that polarising diktat, but the Yogi Adityanath regime has revived it on another illogical pretext. It claims the crackdown on food contamination requires verification, hence the consumer must know the names and addresses of the proprietors and managers. What does hygiene at an eatery have to do with the religion or caste of the operator?

The BJP has been brazen about its communal playbook, but what is the Congress’ explanation? A business is supposed to be identified by what it offers, not who owns it. As Deo points out, you are not selling the individual, you are selling the brand. Vikramaditya has linked the recent communal unrest in the state to the absence of a strong street-vending policy. An order to display identity cards cannot be the answer to that, surely. It is divisive and the only purpose it serves is to cause communal tensions. The government must withdraw the order. Making licences mandatory is a prudent step, but a vending policy needs much more — stringent regulation, adequate supervisory staff and zero tolerance for corruption.

If illegal construction is rampant, so is adulteration of food items. Act with the full force of the law, but don’t stoop to depths of hatred of the other.