Spoiled vegetables rot in corners, while food counters show signs of pest infestation. One might assume these scenes belong to a struggling restaurant. But the photos are from a members-only club in Mumbai - India's financial capital and the capital of its richest state Maharashtra.
They are among dozens of photos and videos that have gone viral since May, after Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began a series of inspections at restaurants, cafes and other food businesses across the state. At the centre of the crackdown is 51-year-old civil servant Tukaram Mundhe, the state's new food commissioner. Since taking charge in May, Mundhe has overseen thousands of inspections and says food safety laws must be enforced regardless of a business's size, influence or reputation.
His department has suspended the licences of several quick-commerce warehouses and sent notices to Bollywood celebrities for doing advertisements suspected of indirectly promoting restricted products. "These actions are taken in public health interest. We will continue to take them against violations," Mundhe told the BBC.
The campaign has made Mundhe a recognisable face across India, rare for a civil servant. Videos of his inspections and press briefings circulate widely on social media, where reels and podcasts have turned him into an unlikely celebrity. But the spotlight - and the controversy that often comes with it - is nothing new to him.
An officer in the Indian Administrative Service, Mundhe has more than two decades of experience and has been transferred so often that reports say the number exceeds his years in service, though he declines to confirm it. "I have stopped counting my transfers," he told the BBC. Admirers see the transfers as evidence of his uncompromising style.
Critics argue that this confrontational approach has put him at odds with colleagues and elected representatives. In the past decade, Mundhe has won praise for his handling of the Covid pandemic outbreak during his time as Nagpur city's municipal commissioner and earlier for his work on water conservation in Maharashtra's drought-prone regions. "When he was transferred out of Nagpur during the pandemic, thousands showed up outside his home to bid him farewell.
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