Govt to disband Development Council for Sugar Industry

Food ministry wants to scrap the 56-year-old council in order to weed out archaic laws and committees

Aiming to weed out archaic laws and committees, the Food Ministry has decided to disband the 56-year old Development Council for Sugar Industry (DCSI) saying the statutory body is no longer relevant after decontrol and de-licencing of the sugar sector.

DCSI was set up way back in 1954 under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act. The Council looked into issuance of licences for setting up of new sugar mills and other issues related to the sector. DCSI has normally been reconstituted after expiry of two years tenure.

"DCSI has no relevance today especially after the sugar industry has been de-licenced and decontrolled. There is little rationale to continue the council and we have decided not to reconstitute DCSI," a senior Food Ministry official told PTI.

The 25-member Council will be disbanded and a notification in this regard will be issued soon, the official said.

That apart, the Food Ministry has decided to do away with a sub-committee on sugar standards functioning under the DCSI.

The official said, "Since the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) are looking into sugar standards issue, there is no point continuing with the the Standing Advisory Committee on Sugar Standards (SACSS) under DCSI."

The Ministry has decided that the DCSI's another sub- committee, Standing Research Advisory Committee (SRAC), will be shifted under the existing 'Sugar Development Fund Standing Committee.' The sub-committee will be renamed as 'Grant-in-aid for Research Projects'

"This has been done to streamline the committees to avoid confusion," the official said.

The sugar industry was de-licenced in 1998 and the requirement of licence for setting up new sugar mills was dispensed with.

In May 2013, the government removed some more key controls in the sugar sector.