State public health lab overworked, understaffed

Of the 14 class-I posts, only 2 filled; of 58 Class-II posts, 30 are vacant.

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A food sample has to be tested on at least 30 parameters before being cleared for consumption.

While the Maggi controversy had trained the focus on safety of food products, public health laboratories in the state are facing an acute shortage of trained staff to check samples for adulteration and other harmful ingredients.

While a food sample has to be tested on at least 30 parameters before being cleared for consumption, key laboratories in the state, including the premier State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL) in Pune, have a majority of posts of food analysts, scientific officers and chief chemists lying vacant.

At the state PHL, which has also been notified as a central food laboratory and a referral institute for water-quality monitoring, 30 of the 58 Class-II posts are vacant. Of the 14 Class-I posts at the lab, only two are occupied. This, when the lab also gets samples from private entities as well as various government departments.

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The situation is no better at the regional public health laboratories (PHLs) in Aurangabad and Nagpur and PHLs in districts.

While each regional laboratory has 31 sanctioned posts, there are multiple vacancies in the categories of chief technical officer, senior scientific officer, technical officer, research officer, senior chemical assistants and others.

“Apart from departmental promotions, officials have to clear a tough ‘food analysts’ for Class-I and II posts. However, there have not been many takers. We have also tried to fill up Class-III posts and submitted proposals to the state government for recruiting more staff,” said S B Kamble, deputy director, State Public Health Laboratory.

Kamble was, however, quick to add that the work did not suffer despite manpower shortage. “Maharashtra’s lab is among the top 10 in the country,” he said, while citing an instance of a team of Kerala MLAs visiting Pune’s lab in January this year to check how the work was done there.

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Despite the acute shortage of staff, the work flow has been increasing at the lab. For instance, the number of samples sent there from January till May this year from government departments alone was 9,000, in addition to 1,600 samples from individuals and private firms. Since the public health lab has also been designated as a central referral lab, at least 25 samples are sent from various states like Tripura, Agartala, Mizoram, Manipur, Sikkim and others for verification of their food lab reports.

Water contamination a threat in the state

In April-May this year, as many as 1,31,635 drinking water samples from across the state were tested at the state PHL in Pune, of which 12,624 were found to be contaminated. Among the districts which showed more than 20 per cent of water contamination included Jalna, Beed, Nanded, Akola, Buldhana and Hingoli.

During a chemical analysis of water disinfectants undertaken at the lab to ascertain its potability as per the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications, as many as 1,64, 936 samples including alum, bleaching powder and others were tested at the lab, of which 56,775 were found to be non-potable.

From January till May this year, as many as 13,335 food samples were tested. These included edible oil, milk, spices, condiments, milk products and beverages. Of these, 1,191 did not conform to the standards laid down by the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

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“These tests are stringent and various categories of foods have to clear specified parameters. For instance, there are 40 parameters to be checked before packaged drinking water can be approved while there are nine parameters for edible oil and so on,” Shashikant Kekare, Joint Commissioner (Food) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pune division, said.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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