ISLAMABAD: Most hotels and restaurants in the federal capital buy the meat of dead or sick chickens as they are cheaper, members of a parliamentary committee were told on Thursday.

Speaking at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services (NHS) District Health Officer Dr Mohammad Tahir said the situation cannot be controlled unless the department is given a free hand.

“We get directions to retreat whenever we try to take action against hotels, including five-star hotels. A conference of international health ministers will be conducted in the city soon and we have decided to check the quality of food at the hotel where it will be held,” he said.

He said diseases of the heart, liver and kidneys are becoming more common due to products mixed in poultry feed.

“The same is the case with milk. We recently destroyed 25,000 litres being transported from Sargodha and Rawat,” he added.

Senator Ateeq Sheikh requested the chairman to send call letters to the Pakistan Dairy Association for a clarification about the quality of milk.

Chairman of the committee, Sajjad Hussein Turi said all members will hold a walk for raising awareness about the issue.

Talking to media persons later, Dr Tahir said he had conducted raids at bakeries and restaurants in Bhara Kahu and was shocked to see their kitchens.

“I have seen six-month-old meat being used in kitchens at five-star hotels. We are not in a position to take action against them due to the absence of strict legislation,” he said.

He said cattle are given oxytocin injections so they give three times more milk and that the drug can lead to infertility in women.

“Oxytocin costs just Rs4 and if the government cannot do anything else, it should increase the price of the medicine by a hundred times just to stop its use for the increase of milk production,” he said. Issue of medical college fees

The committee also discussed the issue of fee increases by medical colleges and members agreed that fees have been increased without following the rules.

After consultation with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, medical colleges increased their annual fee from Rs642,000 to Rs800,000.

Defending the medical colleges, Minister NHS Saira Afzal Tarar said fees have not been increased since 2011 and that it was not correct that only the private colleges were responsible for the fee hike.

Senator Sheikh said colleges should submit audit reports and balance sheets to confirm they are facing losses.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2017