Chhattisgarh to procure salt with ISI mark

State government has been distributing free iodized salt to poor people

Chhattisgarh government has decided to procure iodized salt that would carry the ISI (Indian Standards Institute) mark.

The procurement is done by the state-run Chhattisgarh State Civil Supplies Corporation. The agency had come under the scanner in connection with rice scam and sub standard quality of salt that it had been reportedly purchasing.

"The corporation would now procure iodized salt that would be registered with ISI," a senior official in the corporation said. The decision was taken to main the quality of the product. The corporation had floated tender for purchasing 102 Tonnes of iodized salt. The interested firms had been asked to submit the proposal by September 2.

Under the clauses mentioned in the tender, only those companies would be eligible to participate in the tender that had registered its product with the ISI, the official said. Earlier, there was no such clause in the tender that was floated for iodized salt procurement in Chhattisgarh. Following which, sub standard product was supplied that invited criticism for the state government.

The corporation had also black-listed two firms that had earlier supplied iodized salt in the state. The action was taken after high level probe that found the salt supplied to the corporation was not upto the standard.