'No animus against Nestle'

Consumer affairs minister Paswan says steps taken to protect consumer interest

While Nestle India tries to fight the damage caused to its brand by the recent Maggi controversy, consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan says the government has no prejudice against the company or its product.

"We have done what we needed to do on behalf of the consumers of this country. A signal needed to be sent that no one should take the law of this country and also the interest of consumers for granted, which we have done. But, we are not targeting Maggi or, for that matter, any brand or multinational," Paswan told Business Standard.

His ministry is in the process of filing an official complaint against Nestle India under the unfair trade practice section of the law with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The complaint will be filed under the Consumer Protection Act, where the government may claim damages.

A national controversy broke out after traces of lead and monosodium glutamate allegedly higher than the permissible limit were found in Maggi noodle packets sold in Uttar Pradesh.

Then, several state governments banned the sale of Maggi and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India directed all the product's variants be recalled; Nestle has petitioned the Bombay High Court. The authority has also widened its probe to include other fast-food brands. Paswan said that whatever was needed to be done by his ministry in the interest of consumers had been done and now it was for the courts and the legal system to take over.

Cane dues
On the recent government decision to grant Rs 6,000 crore of interest-free loans to sugar mills, to help them clear their sugarcane dues to farmers, Paswan said the aim was that farmers start getting payment for the cane they'd sold in the 2014-15 season.

"We have made it very clear that only mills which clear 50 per cent of the dues till June-end will be eligible for the soft loan and the money taken from the bank will have to used to clear the dues," Paswan said.

He also denied any plan to create a sugar buffer stock, being demanded by millers to absorb their surplus stock. "When production is increasing and the industry is decontrolled, how can I re-impose control, by purchasing their surplus?" he asked.