Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has denied reports of his transfer and said he continues to head the department responsible for action against unsafe food, adulterated products and substandard drugs in the state.
Mundhe issued the clarification on Monday night, saying he had not been transferred from the FDA. “I continue to serve as Commissioner FDA Maharashtra. Our fight against unsafe, substandard, adulterated food and spurious, substandard drugs goes on,” he said in a post on X.
The statement came after the Maharashtra government appointed Mundhe as secretary of a committee investigating alleged irregularities in Maharashtra Public Service Commission recruitment examinations. The appointment had led to reports that he may have moved out of the FDA post.
The five-member committee is headed by retired Bombay High Court judge Dilip Bhosale. Its other members are IPS officer Laxmi Gautam, former IAS officer Ganesh Patil and retired judge P D Naik. The panel was constituted after protests by MPSC aspirants in Pune over alleged examination irregularities and paper leaks.
The protests followed complaints from candidates seeking action over the recruitment process. Their demands included withdrawal of cases registered against protesters, recruitment to 70,000 posts over the next three years, an increase in vacancies for the Group C examination scheduled for January, and the removal of MPSC Chairman Vivek Bhimanwar.
The state government has sent Bhimanwar on compulsory leave until the inquiry into the alleged paper leak is completed. Maharashtra Minister Shivendraraje Bhosale said cases registered against students in connection with the agitation would be withdrawn and that strict action would follow against those found guilty in the alleged paper leak case.
The MPSC had also initiated a preliminary inquiry after receiving complaints about alleged malpractice in the screening examination for the Drug Inspector post held on March 22. The examination is directly linked to the FDA’s regulatory responsibilities, since drug inspectors are involved in monitoring compliance and investigating violations in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
Mundhe’s clarification leaves him holding the FDA commissioner’s post while also serving as secretary to the MPSC inquiry committee. His statement indicates that the department’s enforcement work against unsafe food and substandard or spurious medicines will continue during the inquiry process.
