FDA gives greenlight to Akashwani hostel, some changes still to be made

The canteen, which resumed operations on Tuesday, found itself in the spotlight after Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad assaulted the canteen manager over stale dal served to him last Tuesday

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revoked the suspension of Ajanta Caterers, the contractor which ran the Akashwani MLA hostel canteen. The canteen, which resumed operations on Tuesday, found itself in the spotlight after Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad assaulted the canteen manager over stale dal served to him last Tuesday.

Mumbai, India. July 09, 2025: Sanjay Gaikwad, an MLA from the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), arrived at the Maharashtra Assembly session with stale dal. He slapped a canteen staff member at the Akashwani MLA Hostel canteen who had served him the stale dal. Mumbai, India, July 09, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

Following the incident, a team of the state’s FDA examined the canteen last Wednesday and stated 79 reasons for which it was suspending the licence of Ajanta Caterers. Reasons included flies in the bowl of butter, unclean raw material, unsanitised equipment, cooked food intended for refrigeration not cooled properly, and dirty cutlery and crockery.

The caterer’s licence, valid from July 26, 2024 to September 27, 2027 was suspended pending further action, and the Marine Drive police registered a non-cognisable offence against Gaikwad. However, neither the canteen manager Yogesh Puthran nor the contractor filed any complaint against Gaikwad.

A senior FDA officer said, “The caterers had filed an appeal, we examined the hygiene. There are some more issues and we have given 14 days to the Public Works Department (PWD) which owns the MLA hostel to make corrections.”

Sources in FDA said that many MLAs had requested the authorities to restart the canteen as there were no other options nearby.