Maintain decorum on Maggi row: PM told consumer affairs ministry

Ram Vilas Paswan says govt wants to achieve industrial growth but not at the cost of consumer interest

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had advised maintaining decorum on the Maggi row till all facts came to light, as the government did not want to hurt investment flow, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Thursday.

“Day before yesterday, the prime minister had said whatever people say, we should maintain decorum on this issue (Maggi). Until we get the fact-finding done, there is no need to create unnecessary noise,” Paswan said while talking about the Maggi noodle row at an Assocham event here.

Paswan also favoured setting up a single coordinated body to look into many overlapping issues and expedite issuance of product clearances from various ministries in the food sector.

“We will write to every department and to the prime minister that we need to seriously look into such issues being raised by the industry,” he said adding that there should be a time-bound redress of industries’ grievances.

The minister assured the food processing representatives that the government did not intend to impose ‘inspector raj’ and hurt investment flow in the sector. But at the same time, he asked for quality of products to be maintained and business to be done in “honest and transparent” way.

“The government wants to achieve industrial growth but not at the cost of consumer interest. Products should be of good quality and the industry should ensure this,” he said.

Paswan said there was a “media trial” going on in the Maggi row, and spoke about certain labs finding Maggi samples conforming to food safety standards and later regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) rejecting those test reports.

“There is public perception (about Maggi). If public perception gets dented, it becomes difficult to control. These days, media trial is happening in a big way. It had happened in the case of Coca-Cola, too,” he added.

Consumers get affected when there are health-related issues associated with products, he said, adding that there would be criticism in a parliamentary democracy when such controversies come to light.

In June, FSSAI had banned Nestlé India’s Maggi brand of noodles after finding 30 samples “unsafe and hazardous” for human consumption. The regulator had also said Nestlé violated labelling regulations on taste enhancer ‘MSG’ and ordered company to give compliance report on its orders.