The report was published by Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa (IHM) that tested street food samples from a few markets in the capital. The tests found E.Coli in the food, which is basically a kind of bacteria that can cause diarrhoea or gastroenteritis.
The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) has spoken out in defense of street food and termed the PUSA report as 'fake'. NASVI alleges that the report is part of a scheme intended to put the hawkers out of business through a combination of smear campaign and promotion of "mall culture".
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The association accused the government of painting a poor picture of street food, which they said provide livelihood to hundreds, through "malicious" reports. "Take for example the so-called report issued by Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Pusa that shows extremely high volumes of E.coli bacteria in street snacks such as chole-bhature, samosas, pakodas, tikkis, chaat and tea, which can cause severe infections," NASVI said in a statement.(Milk Samples in India Fail to Conform to Standards)
NASVI claimed that the principal of the institute has denied undertaking any such study. However, please not that when we contacted the institute, they said that they've been misquoted but did not deny the existence of such a report.
The government's intentions seem to be to deprive Delhi's street food lovers from enjoying delicacies at cheaper and affordable prices, it said. "Even for snacks such as chole-bhature, samosas, pakodas, tikkis, chaat and tea the consumers would have to go to expensive malls which are beyond the reach of a common man. Would not it be promoting 'mall-culture' in the capital?" the organisation asked in the statement.
The passage of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 has made it difficult to evict vendors from their place of vending so civic authorities were looking for other means to harass, NASVI alleged.
"On one hand the government of India and Tourism ministry claims to promote Delhi street food, and on the other hand they are doing this to the street vendors," said Anurag Shanker, program manager NASVI.
With inputs from PTI