Nagpur: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered the immediate closure of a canteen operating inside the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMC), popularly known as Mayo Hospital, after discovering that it had been serving food without a valid licence and was violating several mandatory food safety and hygiene norms.

The action against Shri Balaji Canteen, widely known as the Doctors’ Canteen, has put the spotlight on regulatory oversight within one of the city’s leading Government-run medical institutions, where the facility caters primarily to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students.

The canteen was inspected on Monday by Food Safety Officer Sheetal Sudhakar Deshpande, who found that it was preparing and selling tea, snacks, meals and other food items without obtaining the mandatory licence under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

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The inspection further revealed several serious deficiencies, including poor hygiene and sanitation standards, improper disposal of waste, the absence of a drinking water quality test report, and failure to maintain medical fitness certificates for food handlers, all of which are compulsory under the Food Safety and Standards Regulations.

According to the FDA, the canteen is owned by Piyush Ravindra Larokar, who has been operating the facility from the IGGMC campus after being allotted the premises on rent by the medical college with effect from October 10, 2025. Despite functioning within a Government medical institution, the establishment was found operating without the statutory food licence required for food businesses.

Taking serious note of the violations, the FDA directed the proprietor to suspend all food business activities with immediate effect. The canteen will not be allowed to resume operations until it obtains the requisite food licence and rectifies all shortcomings relating to food safety, hygiene and statutory compliance.