A canteen operating inside the premises of Mayo Hospital, officially known as Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMC), and serving food to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students has been ordered to stop operations after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found it functioning without a valid food licence and detected multiple lapses in hygiene and food safety compliance. Action against Shri Balaji Canteen, popularly known as the Doctors’ Canteen, has raised serious questions over food safety oversight at one of the city’s premier Government medical institutions. Sheetal Sudhakar Deshpande, Food Safety Officer, inspected the establishment on the IGGMC premises in Gandhibagh Zone on Monday.

 

According to the FDA, the canteen was preparing and selling tea, snacks, meals and other food items without possessing a valid licence under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The inspection also revealed violations of hygiene and sanitation requirements prescribed under Schedule 4, improper waste management, non-availability of a drinking water test report and absence of medical fitness reports of workers handling food. The canteen is owned by Piyush Ravindra Larokar. The FDA found that the premises had been provided to the proprietor by the medical college on a rental basis from October 10, 2025. Despite operating from within the Government medical college premises and catering to its students, the establishment was found without the statutory food licence, according to the inspection findings.

 

The FDA has directed the canteen to suspend business until all deficiencies are rectified and the required compliances are fulfilled. In a separate action, the department also suspended the food licence of ‘Saoji Upahar Gruha’ at Tiranga Chowk on August 21 for violations of hygiene and sanitation norms prescribed under Schedule 4. The action was carried out under the guidance of Tukaram Mundhe, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, and under the leadership of Krishna Jaipurkar, Joint Commissioner, Nagpur Division, with R R Shah, Assistant Commissioner, and Food Safety Officer Sheetal Deshpande participating in the enforcement action.