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Vol. 6, Issue 3, August (I) 2013, Rs. 20/-
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India wastes Rs 44,000 cr worth food every year
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espite millions of Indians going to bed on a hungry stomach, the country is letting food worth a whopping Rs 44,000 crore go waste each year due to lack of adequate storage
infrastructure. While the wasted fruits and vegetables alone was estimated at Rs 13,300 crore, other food products like rice, wheat, serials and meat are also allowed to perish without consumption.
Union Agriculture and Food Processing Minister Sharad Pawar informed Rajya Sabha that setting up more large cold storages and better post harvesting facilities alone can curtail wastage.
Court stays Himachal ban on polythene packed chips, candy
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n a temporary reprieve to MNCs, the Himachal Pradesh High Court stayed the government order imposing a ban on potato chips and candies packaged in polythene. Hearing a bunch of petitions, a division bench of Justice D.D. Sud and Justice Sanjay Karol stayed till Sep 3 the ban. The government issued a notification June 26, banning sale and stocking of 25 food items, including chips and biscuits, which are available in plastic and nonbiodegradable packs. The government’s notification came in the wake of the high court order Jan 10 that directed the government to ban the items packed in plastic packaging from April 1. But later on the request of the state government, the court had extended the time limit to implement the orders by three months. The government pleaded that additional time was required to evaluate the possible consequences that may arise as a result of the ban. As per the court’s earlier order, eatables like potato chips, cookies, candy, chewing gum, ice cream, chocolates and noodles would not be available in polythene packs. Essential items like milk and vegetable oils are, however, exempted from the ban. The ban is likely to have wider ramifications
as scores of MNCs, which sell such eatables, will be impacted, say government officials. “It is not that 100 percent biodegradable and compostable plastic and packaging material is not available in the market. It may increase the cost of the product. But then people indulging in the luxury of consumption of such consumable items, edible or otherwise, need to share the burden of costs,” the court had said. The court, say legal experts, believes the price rise will be a deterrent for voluminous consumption of junk food, including aerated beverages, which contain a high concentration of synthetic sugars. “We are of the opinion that there should be a ban on only those non-essential items which fall in the category of junk food such as wafers, sweets, noodles, chocolates, ice cream candy, biscuits and ‘namkeen’,” the court had said. “These should be brought into Himachal Pradesh only in biodegradable packaging. Even soft drinks should be brought in glass bottles or other biodegradable packaging but not in non-biodegradable packaging,” the court had said. It had added: “We also make it clear that if we find that this experiment is successful, then we may expand the scope of this order to cover other non-essential items also.”
The minister claimed that the government has taken many steps to encourage creation of additional storage capacity and complimented states that had taken more interest in efficient food storage. Despite these, he insisted that requirement for cold storage remains very high. The Saumitra Chaudhuri Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2012, has estimated the country’s cold storage requirement as 61.3 million tonne as against the present capacity of around 29 million tonne. The Centre provides grantin-aid for states to build cold chain infrastructure, which is 50 per cent of the total cost of plant and machinery in general, areas and 75 per cent in difficult areas including the Northeast. However, it has kept the sealing as Rs 10 crore. Reducing the amount of food wastage was one of the major arguments the government had put forth while allowing Foreign Direct Investment in retail sector last year, as it insisted that companies would invest in backend cold storage infrastructure. However, since the FDI clearance, it is yet to receive a proposal from the global retail giants.
Earlier, Food Minister K V Thomas told Deccan Herald that nearly 30 per cent of the country’s fruits and vegetables perish due to lack of cold-storage facilities, while thousands of tons of food-grain rot in ill-equipped warehouses. Between 15 and 20 per cent of cooked food at weddings, parties or restaurants is wasted as well. Though Thomas mooted the idea of introducing guest control system in marriages to prevent wastage of food, it failed to take off due to accusation from several quarters. India produces around 250 million tonne of foodgrain in a year, but its annual consumption remains far lower at 220 million to 225 million tonne. The country has failed to take advantage of the higher production levels as it is reported that more than 250 million people go to bed hungry each day. The report released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation last year said 48 per cent children under the age of five are stunted (too short for their age), indicating that half of the country’s children are chronically malnourished.