Zeenews Bureau
Dehradun/Haridwar: In what could spell trouble for Baba Ramdev, many food products sold by his trust have failed in tests conducted by the Uttarakhand food department.
Sources in the department told Zee News that samples of salt, spices, jam and mustard oil that were collected from Ramdev’s Divya Yog ashram in Haridwar were found to be of substandard quality. Also, some of the products were found to have been manufactured elsewhere but were being marketed under the ashram’s brand.
The food department had collected the samples by conducting surprise raids at Ramdev’s ashram on August 16. The raids were criticised by Ramdev who alleged the action was taken at the behest of the Centre.
"This is war between the elite class and common people. We are common people and our war has just begun. These raids are being done at the behest of the Centre", Ramdev said.
"Have they (the government) ever dared to carry out raids on foreign companies? But they have chosen to target me. You can collect samples even truck loads", Ramdev told reporters here.
As per the sources, Ramdev’s trust would be booked under relevant sections of the law and can be fined Rs 10-15 lakhs.
However, post the disclosure in the media, officials of the food department have gone mum and are neither confirming nor denying the report.
Meanwhile, Divya Yog Trust has also declined to respond to the report and has said that it will respond once it gets the report.
Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda, which till March this year was marketing its line of over 800 products only through its own exclusive chain, is now competing directly with FMCG majors in the open market.
The trust has appointed 20,000 distributors to aggressively enter the market with ‘Swadeshi Stores'.
First Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 14:44