It appears India's food regulator has got all its priorities horribly wrong. The regulatory body plans to spend a whopping sum of over Rs.1,000 crore just on publicity during the 12th plan period. The amount the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sought from the government for publicity related activities is much more than what it plans to spend on its core activities - developing food safety standards, setting up testing labs, surveillance and so on. Out of Rs.6,548 crore for various projects and initiatives planned during the 12th plan period, as much as Rs.1,019 has been earmarked just for publicity. The meek justification being offered for this disproportionate funding for publicity is that people have to be made aware about various provisions of the Food Safety Act, 2006. While detailed rollout schedule and clear deliverables have been shown for various activities, the authority remains vague when it comes to its gigantic media spending plan. All that the proposal says is "awareness generation/IEC programme would be as per well-thought-out media plan to be undertaken regularly using all forms/formats of publicity having wide reach."
The Rs.1,000 crore media blitzkrieg is expected to result in "overall general awareness about food safety rules/ regulations and sensitisation of various stakeholders about food safety issues".
The stated focus of the FSSAI plan is developing science-based standards for food products, standards for health supplements, nutraceuticals and proprietary foods, setting new residue limits for pesticides and antibiotics in food products, besides establishing a surveillance network to test food articles for adulteration, contamination, health claims, false labelling etc. But the funds being sought for different projects don't match these grand objectives. The setting up of a national food science and risk assessment centre will get Rs.155 crore, while Rs.40 crore has been sought for upgrading central food laboratories including for GM testing. For the proposed Nationwide Food Safety Surveillance Network and data collection, a sum of Rs.50 crore is being set aside. Expansion of scientific wing and facilities for imported food testing and screening would require Rs.350 crore. Scaling up of 62 public food labs - which has been described as the weakest link in the surveillance network - will be done for Rs.310 crore. In contrast, Rs.350 crore under the so-called media plan will be spent for undertaking a "comprehensive campaign utilising audio and video and print media for dissemination of messages." An amount of Rs.319 crore has been proposed for publicity utilising "non-media vehicles" such as multi-coloured pamphlets on food safety, hygiene, prevention of food spoilage, use of potable water in cooking etc. Such material will be distributed to schools, vendors and will be displayed at bus and railway stations. Another Rs.350 crore would be disbursed to states at the rate of Rs.2 crore for every state every year for publicity in local language. K. Chandramouli, FSSAI chairperson and CEO, did not respond to Mail Today queries till the time of going to the press. This is not the first time when the authority has got its focus wrong. In August 2009, Mail Today had exposed how scientific panels of FSSAI had been filled up with food industry representatives. All such members had to be purged and all scientific panels were recast.
Source:http://indiatoday.intoday.in
The Rs.1,000 crore media blitzkrieg is expected to result in "overall general awareness about food safety rules/ regulations and sensitisation of various stakeholders about food safety issues".
The stated focus of the FSSAI plan is developing science-based standards for food products, standards for health supplements, nutraceuticals and proprietary foods, setting new residue limits for pesticides and antibiotics in food products, besides establishing a surveillance network to test food articles for adulteration, contamination, health claims, false labelling etc. But the funds being sought for different projects don't match these grand objectives. The setting up of a national food science and risk assessment centre will get Rs.155 crore, while Rs.40 crore has been sought for upgrading central food laboratories including for GM testing. For the proposed Nationwide Food Safety Surveillance Network and data collection, a sum of Rs.50 crore is being set aside. Expansion of scientific wing and facilities for imported food testing and screening would require Rs.350 crore. Scaling up of 62 public food labs - which has been described as the weakest link in the surveillance network - will be done for Rs.310 crore. In contrast, Rs.350 crore under the so-called media plan will be spent for undertaking a "comprehensive campaign utilising audio and video and print media for dissemination of messages." An amount of Rs.319 crore has been proposed for publicity utilising "non-media vehicles" such as multi-coloured pamphlets on food safety, hygiene, prevention of food spoilage, use of potable water in cooking etc. Such material will be distributed to schools, vendors and will be displayed at bus and railway stations. Another Rs.350 crore would be disbursed to states at the rate of Rs.2 crore for every state every year for publicity in local language. K. Chandramouli, FSSAI chairperson and CEO, did not respond to Mail Today queries till the time of going to the press. This is not the first time when the authority has got its focus wrong. In August 2009, Mail Today had exposed how scientific panels of FSSAI had been filled up with food industry representatives. All such members had to be purged and all scientific panels were recast.
Source:http://indiatoday.intoday.in
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