Monday, November 21, 2011
International Seminar on Economic Slumps: organised by Fatima Mata National College, Kollam, KERALA
Speech of Prof K V Thomas, Hon’ble MOS (I/c) for CA, F&PD during the International Seminar on Economic Slumps : Challenges to Indian Economy – organized by Fatima Mata National College, Kollam.
Father Principal, Distinguished guests, experts from various organizations, dear students, ladies and gentlemen…
I am indeed happy to be with you all at the international seminar on the challenges of economic slumps to Indian economy. I am pleasantly taken back in time to my days a teacher, facing a gathering of young and vibrant minds, eager to learn, question, find out and imbibe from their teacher: as also, sometime, to ‘teach’ a couple of lessons to those lecturing to them.
I should appreciate the initiative taken by the Fatima Mata National College for organizing such a brainstorming session on a crucial topic as part of their diamond jubilee celebration. I am sure that the deliberations that you are going to have today and tomorrow will touch upon a host of pertinent issues concerning the world economy with particular reference to that of our own country.
Till a few years ago the world had taken for granted the benefits of globalization and global interdependence. Today we are being called upon to cope with the negative dimensions of those very phenomena. Economic, social and political events in different parts of the world have coalesced together and their adverse impact is now being felt across countries and continents.
As you know, the contemporary global economic scenario can not be examined in isolation. The traditional engines of the global economy – countries such as the United States, Europe and Japan, which are also the sources of global economic and financial stability, are today faced with continued economic slowdown. Recessionary trends in these countries are affecting confidence in world financial and capital markets.
If you recall, the 2008 financial crisis was due to the asset bubble in the US housing market and complex interplay of valuation and liquidity problems in the US banking system. Economies worldwide slowed during this period, as credit tightened and international trade declined. Governments and central banks responded with unprecedented fiscal stimulus, monetary policy expansion and institutional bailouts.
Even though the US economy is still recovering from the that crisis and its job creation has not yet improved to the desired level, six months ago, everyone thought that the 2008 financial crisis had been brought under control. In the last three months the situation has changed dramatically, primarily because of the Eurozone debt crisis. The recent developments in the United States, the Euro zone and even China held out the depressing prospects that the global economy may be heading towards an even more serious economic crisis than that of 2008.
Europe is under severe debt. What began as a crisis in Greece has led to a contagious effect as the other major European countries like Spain, Italy and even France have severely strained the European banking system. The Eurozone debt crisis is believed to be more serious because the governments across the world are exhausted with the armory of fiscal and monetary tools as most of these tools were already used to combat the previous crisis and are now left with nothing.
What are the implications for India and What are the ways in which the European debt crisis could affect Indian economy?
It is an agreed fact that we can have satisfaction because our economy has demonstrated lot of strength and resilience after 2008 crisis and our economic growth as well as stock markets recovered very fast.
This much is also clear that the Euro zone crisis will not have any direct impact on our banks because our banks are not exposed to European debt. However, our trade flows could affect if the European banks stop giving trade credit. Many economists think that India is mostly a domestic demand driven economy, so we cannot hit by a global downturn. But this is not true. Our foreign trade in goods and services is already over 50 percent of the GDP. Our stock markets and currency markets are very sensitive to global cues. We are not as insulated from global markets as we think.
In an increasingly interdependent world, we must have contingency planning to guard ourselves from the effects of such global crisis as these developments are bound to have a negative impact on developing countries which also have to bear the additional burden of inflationary pressures.
Inflation as measured by Wholesale Price Index (WPI) has remained around 9 per cent during the first half of current financial year. The inflationary pressure in recent times have emanated from multiple sources, the most important being the global rise in commodity prices and liquidity enhancing policies adopted by central banks in industrialized nations. Food inflation has significantly dropped from a peak of 20 per cent in February 2010 to about 8 per cent June-July 2011. However, the sources of inflation have now switched to non-food; much of it was due to imported global commodity inflation. As per the first advance estimates released by Ministry of Agriculture on 14.09.2011, production of kharif food grains during 2011 -12 is estimated at 123.88 million tonnes compared to about 120 million tones in 2010-11. In the kharif season 2011-12, the country is likely to achieve production of 87.10 million tones of rice, 20.89 million tones oilseeds and 36.10 million bales (170kg. each) of cotton. This augurs will for supply side response to arrest inflation in food items.
I also feel that the current crisis gives us an opportunity to strengthen the sectoral initiatives and specific schemes to reduce the percentage of poverty.
We need to accelerate reforms in agriculture to increase production, encourage industrial growth and promote small and medium enterprises to ensure job creation that will pull people out of poverty. Many of these policies are not specifically targeted at the poor, but I believe that they will create conditions in which poverty will come down.
We also have specific schemes to alleviate poverty. While NREGA is one, Food security is another. Both the Centre and the state governments operate jointly the Targeted Public Distribution System to ensure food security to the poor and the vulnerable sections of the society. I understand there is much to be done to strengthen the system, but progressive reforms are being taken to reduce leakage of foodgrains, bogus ration cards and make PDS more transparent.
I am very much hopeful that the state governments including that of Kerala will take all possible initiatives to reform PDS because the UPA government is committed to come up with the National Food Security Law.
The consultation process on the draft Food Bill has already been completed. We are incorporating some changes in the draft bill and take it for the Cabinet approval before November 20. Our aim is to introduce the draft bill in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.
Once the bill is passed in Parliament, ration card holders will have legal right over subsidized foodgrains. If any fair price shops fail to provide foodgrains, the card holders can pull that shop owner to the court.
With these remarks, I wish organizers success of the seminar. The suggestions of the experts would help us in our endeavour to fight poverty in the midst of weakening global economic environment.
Thank You.
JAI HIND
Father Principal, Distinguished guests, experts from various organizations, dear students, ladies and gentlemen…
I am indeed happy to be with you all at the international seminar on the challenges of economic slumps to Indian economy. I am pleasantly taken back in time to my days a teacher, facing a gathering of young and vibrant minds, eager to learn, question, find out and imbibe from their teacher: as also, sometime, to ‘teach’ a couple of lessons to those lecturing to them.
I should appreciate the initiative taken by the Fatima Mata National College for organizing such a brainstorming session on a crucial topic as part of their diamond jubilee celebration. I am sure that the deliberations that you are going to have today and tomorrow will touch upon a host of pertinent issues concerning the world economy with particular reference to that of our own country.
Till a few years ago the world had taken for granted the benefits of globalization and global interdependence. Today we are being called upon to cope with the negative dimensions of those very phenomena. Economic, social and political events in different parts of the world have coalesced together and their adverse impact is now being felt across countries and continents.
As you know, the contemporary global economic scenario can not be examined in isolation. The traditional engines of the global economy – countries such as the United States, Europe and Japan, which are also the sources of global economic and financial stability, are today faced with continued economic slowdown. Recessionary trends in these countries are affecting confidence in world financial and capital markets.
If you recall, the 2008 financial crisis was due to the asset bubble in the US housing market and complex interplay of valuation and liquidity problems in the US banking system. Economies worldwide slowed during this period, as credit tightened and international trade declined. Governments and central banks responded with unprecedented fiscal stimulus, monetary policy expansion and institutional bailouts.
Even though the US economy is still recovering from the that crisis and its job creation has not yet improved to the desired level, six months ago, everyone thought that the 2008 financial crisis had been brought under control. In the last three months the situation has changed dramatically, primarily because of the Eurozone debt crisis. The recent developments in the United States, the Euro zone and even China held out the depressing prospects that the global economy may be heading towards an even more serious economic crisis than that of 2008.
Europe is under severe debt. What began as a crisis in Greece has led to a contagious effect as the other major European countries like Spain, Italy and even France have severely strained the European banking system. The Eurozone debt crisis is believed to be more serious because the governments across the world are exhausted with the armory of fiscal and monetary tools as most of these tools were already used to combat the previous crisis and are now left with nothing.
What are the implications for India and What are the ways in which the European debt crisis could affect Indian economy?
It is an agreed fact that we can have satisfaction because our economy has demonstrated lot of strength and resilience after 2008 crisis and our economic growth as well as stock markets recovered very fast.
This much is also clear that the Euro zone crisis will not have any direct impact on our banks because our banks are not exposed to European debt. However, our trade flows could affect if the European banks stop giving trade credit. Many economists think that India is mostly a domestic demand driven economy, so we cannot hit by a global downturn. But this is not true. Our foreign trade in goods and services is already over 50 percent of the GDP. Our stock markets and currency markets are very sensitive to global cues. We are not as insulated from global markets as we think.
In an increasingly interdependent world, we must have contingency planning to guard ourselves from the effects of such global crisis as these developments are bound to have a negative impact on developing countries which also have to bear the additional burden of inflationary pressures.
Inflation as measured by Wholesale Price Index (WPI) has remained around 9 per cent during the first half of current financial year. The inflationary pressure in recent times have emanated from multiple sources, the most important being the global rise in commodity prices and liquidity enhancing policies adopted by central banks in industrialized nations. Food inflation has significantly dropped from a peak of 20 per cent in February 2010 to about 8 per cent June-July 2011. However, the sources of inflation have now switched to non-food; much of it was due to imported global commodity inflation. As per the first advance estimates released by Ministry of Agriculture on 14.09.2011, production of kharif food grains during 2011 -12 is estimated at 123.88 million tonnes compared to about 120 million tones in 2010-11. In the kharif season 2011-12, the country is likely to achieve production of 87.10 million tones of rice, 20.89 million tones oilseeds and 36.10 million bales (170kg. each) of cotton. This augurs will for supply side response to arrest inflation in food items.
I also feel that the current crisis gives us an opportunity to strengthen the sectoral initiatives and specific schemes to reduce the percentage of poverty.
We need to accelerate reforms in agriculture to increase production, encourage industrial growth and promote small and medium enterprises to ensure job creation that will pull people out of poverty. Many of these policies are not specifically targeted at the poor, but I believe that they will create conditions in which poverty will come down.
We also have specific schemes to alleviate poverty. While NREGA is one, Food security is another. Both the Centre and the state governments operate jointly the Targeted Public Distribution System to ensure food security to the poor and the vulnerable sections of the society. I understand there is much to be done to strengthen the system, but progressive reforms are being taken to reduce leakage of foodgrains, bogus ration cards and make PDS more transparent.
I am very much hopeful that the state governments including that of Kerala will take all possible initiatives to reform PDS because the UPA government is committed to come up with the National Food Security Law.
The consultation process on the draft Food Bill has already been completed. We are incorporating some changes in the draft bill and take it for the Cabinet approval before November 20. Our aim is to introduce the draft bill in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.
Once the bill is passed in Parliament, ration card holders will have legal right over subsidized foodgrains. If any fair price shops fail to provide foodgrains, the card holders can pull that shop owner to the court.
With these remarks, I wish organizers success of the seminar. The suggestions of the experts would help us in our endeavour to fight poverty in the midst of weakening global economic environment.
Thank You.
JAI HIND
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
SPEECH FOR PROF. K.V. THOMAS, HON’BLE MINISTER (I/C) CA, F&PD FOR THE MEETING OF FOOD MINISTERS AND FOOD SECRETARIES OF NE STATES (EXCEPT SIKKIM) TO BE HELD AT GUWAHATI ON 29-09-2011.
Food Ministers of the North Eastern States present here, Secretary, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, Food Secretaries of NE States, CMD, Food Corporation of India and other officers of Government of India and State Governments.
2. Today, I am very happy to be with you for the review of the food and public distribution system of north-eastern region. In July this year, We had a meeting with the Food Ministers and Food Secretaries of producing and consuming States. Since the problems faced by the North Eastern States are somewhat different from other states, I thought to have a separate meeting for NE States. Government of India has taken up various schemes for all round development of this region having abundant natural resources. North East Region is the corner-stone of Government of India’s Look East Policy.
3. Our focus has been to ensure availability of foodgrains at reasonable prices especially to the weaker and vulnerable sections of the society. The Government is also determined to enact the National Food Security Act which will provide a statutory basis for a framework which assures food security for all and entitles every family below the poverty line to certain quantities of foodgrains at subsidized prices. The legislation will also be used to bring about broader systemic reforms in the Public Distribution System. The National Food Security Bill has been approved by EGoM and further action is being taken. Before placing it before the Parliament, consultations will also be held with the State Governments as providing of food security is the combined responsibility of the Central and the State Governments. The Targeted Public Distribution System which was launched in June, 1997 has played an important role in making available foodgrains at subsidized prices to the poor and vulnerable sections in this country.
4. However, one important thing which I would like to emphasis here is that the performance of PDS is the joint responsibility of the Government of India and respective state governments. While the Government of India is responsible for the procurement, storage, allocation and transportation to various states, the states are primarily responsible for further distribution to the FPS and in turn to the end user, the citizens. I am of the considered opinion that the most critical link in the entire system is distribution to FPS and to the end consumer as the success of the entire system depends on the performance on these counts.
5. Many states have initiated good number of reforms in the PDS with the support from Government of India. I am convinced that by appropriate and innovative use of the available technology, the states will be able to plug significant loopholes in PDS to ensure that leakages are brought to the lowest possible and the grain reaches to its real deserving consumer.
ALLOCATION
6. The Government of India has made substantial allocation of foodgrains during last year as well as in the current year for distribution to TPDS beneficiaries. I am aware of your requests for higher allocations based on increased population and BPL numbers. This issue will have to be addressed in the proposed National Food Security Bill. However, to meet your immediate requirements, during the current year, additional allocation of 10 million tons of rice and wheat for BPL and APL families have been made at subsidised BPL and APL prices.
7. Allocations of foodgrains for BPL families are made @35kg per family per month. For APL families, the allocations differ from 15kg to 35kg in various States. However, as a special case, for all North Eastern States, the monthly APL allocation is also made @35kg per family.
8. Based on requests received from the NE States, further additional allocations have also been made at BPL prices from the savings of January 2011 BPL allocations. Additional allocations for the poorest districts in some States have been made as per requirements received from the State Governments. Similar allocations for other States are also under consideration.
9. During last year, the offtake against the additional allocations made was only around 50% of the total allocation. I have written to all the State Chief Ministers to ensure lifting of the additional allocations in full and distribute to the targeted beneficiaries. I hope the States will take full advantage of these additional allocations by lifting them in full.
10. Taking into consideration the recommendations of the National Advisory Council, the Expert Committee headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan, and consultations with States, Central Ministries, experts and other stake holders, the Department of Food and Public Distribution has prepared a draft National Food Security Bill. The draft Bill has been placed on the website of the Department inviting comments/suggestions from all stake holders by 30th September. The suggestions received will be suitably considered before finalisation and introduction of the Draft Bill in Parliament. I request all the State Governments to send their comments immediately, if not already sent.
STORAGE
11. Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) started functioning in the North East Region in early sixties and was having a capacity of 1.02 lakh MT with occupancy of 90% as on 31st August, 2011. The State-wise capacity being operated by the CWC in the North Eastern Region in Assam is 65,417 MT, Nagaland – 13,000 MT and Tripura – 24,000 MT.
12. The average utilization of NE Region during last three years viz., 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 was 79%, 93% and 92% respectively. Moreover, Guwahati Region has been incurring losses during the last few years. CWC plans to undertake construction of additional storage capacity of 4,000 MT and 1,280 MT at Sorbhog and Dhubri respectively in the existing vacant land during 2012-13.
13. Besides CWC, the Assam and Meghalaya State Warehousing Corporation (SWCs) are also operating in NE Region. The storage capacity of Assam SWC is 2.52 lakh MT with 75% average occupancy through 44 warehouses whereas the storage capacity of Meghalaya SWC is 0.14 lakh MT with 79% average occupancy through 6 warehouses. The existing capacity of these SWCs is not fully utilized. However, Meghalaya SWC has a plan to construct 6,500 MT capacity in the year 2011-12.
14 A proposal for construction of storage godowns, capacity totaling 5.4 lakh tonnes at a total estimated cost of Rs.568 crore has been prepared by the Department. The Planning Commission had also supported the proposed augmentation of storage capacity in the the North East. The EFC has now approved the proposal.
15. In the proposal there were 8 ongoing projects and 39 new projects were identified In Assam godown at Hailakandi (5,000 MT) has been made storageworthy, however at Changsari where a capacity of 1 lakh tonne is proposed to be built in two phases the progress is not satisfactory due to local issues. The efforts of the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh in identifying and handing over land free of cost has been appreciated. I would request the State Governments to give all possible assistance to the FCI for identifying the lands for construction of godowns.
16. The Department of Food & Public Distribution also releases funds as grants-in-aid to the State Governments of the North-Eastern States for construction of storage godowns under the Plan Scheme. In the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the Planning Commission has allocated Rs. 24 crores for this purpose. Funds have been released to the State Government of Assam, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. However, from many of these State Governments, the Utilization Certificates are still pending making it difficult for further release of funds. I would request the State Governments to expeditiously construct the godowns and submit the Utilization Certificates. The State Governments may also inform the physical progress of the godowns being constructed, to the Department on a regular basis.
SUGAR
17. Enough levy sugar is available with the FCI in their godowns in the North East States. During the month of August, 2011 against allocation of 27,130 MT of levy sugar the State Government lifted 24,762 MT, the percentage of lifting as against allocation being 91.27%. As per report from FCI 11,093MT of sugar was available in FCI godowns of North East at the end of August, 2011. Further during the month of September 2011, 10 rakes of 2688 MT each have already been dispatched upto 26-9-2011 and two more rakes of 2688 MT each are under despatch. State Governments are requested to make arrangements to lift their quotas timely for further distribution in the PDS.
EDIBLE OILS
18. Government of India has implemented a scheme for distribution of subsidized imported edible oils to States/UTs with a subsidy of Rs.15/- per kg since 2008 which was extended in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 and for further period upto 30-9-2012. So far only nine States have sent their request for allocation of edible oils upto September 2011 where states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland have not participated in the Scheme. These States are requested to join the scheme and send their demand. The states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland have implemented stock holding limits of edible oils and oilseeds in their respective states whereas States of Assam and Tripura have not fixed stock limit but imposed licensing requirements/sock declaration. The remaining states are requested to notify and enforce stock holding limits on edible oils/oilseeds in their states in order to discourage hoarding of essential commodities.
I hope the deliberations in the meeting will be very useful in strengthening and revamping the Public Distribution System in the North East.
Food Ministers of the North Eastern States present here, Secretary, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, Food Secretaries of NE States, CMD, Food Corporation of India and other officers of Government of India and State Governments.
2. Today, I am very happy to be with you for the review of the food and public distribution system of north-eastern region. In July this year, We had a meeting with the Food Ministers and Food Secretaries of producing and consuming States. Since the problems faced by the North Eastern States are somewhat different from other states, I thought to have a separate meeting for NE States. Government of India has taken up various schemes for all round development of this region having abundant natural resources. North East Region is the corner-stone of Government of India’s Look East Policy.
3. Our focus has been to ensure availability of foodgrains at reasonable prices especially to the weaker and vulnerable sections of the society. The Government is also determined to enact the National Food Security Act which will provide a statutory basis for a framework which assures food security for all and entitles every family below the poverty line to certain quantities of foodgrains at subsidized prices. The legislation will also be used to bring about broader systemic reforms in the Public Distribution System. The National Food Security Bill has been approved by EGoM and further action is being taken. Before placing it before the Parliament, consultations will also be held with the State Governments as providing of food security is the combined responsibility of the Central and the State Governments. The Targeted Public Distribution System which was launched in June, 1997 has played an important role in making available foodgrains at subsidized prices to the poor and vulnerable sections in this country.
4. However, one important thing which I would like to emphasis here is that the performance of PDS is the joint responsibility of the Government of India and respective state governments. While the Government of India is responsible for the procurement, storage, allocation and transportation to various states, the states are primarily responsible for further distribution to the FPS and in turn to the end user, the citizens. I am of the considered opinion that the most critical link in the entire system is distribution to FPS and to the end consumer as the success of the entire system depends on the performance on these counts.
5. Many states have initiated good number of reforms in the PDS with the support from Government of India. I am convinced that by appropriate and innovative use of the available technology, the states will be able to plug significant loopholes in PDS to ensure that leakages are brought to the lowest possible and the grain reaches to its real deserving consumer.
ALLOCATION
6. The Government of India has made substantial allocation of foodgrains during last year as well as in the current year for distribution to TPDS beneficiaries. I am aware of your requests for higher allocations based on increased population and BPL numbers. This issue will have to be addressed in the proposed National Food Security Bill. However, to meet your immediate requirements, during the current year, additional allocation of 10 million tons of rice and wheat for BPL and APL families have been made at subsidised BPL and APL prices.
7. Allocations of foodgrains for BPL families are made @35kg per family per month. For APL families, the allocations differ from 15kg to 35kg in various States. However, as a special case, for all North Eastern States, the monthly APL allocation is also made @35kg per family.
8. Based on requests received from the NE States, further additional allocations have also been made at BPL prices from the savings of January 2011 BPL allocations. Additional allocations for the poorest districts in some States have been made as per requirements received from the State Governments. Similar allocations for other States are also under consideration.
9. During last year, the offtake against the additional allocations made was only around 50% of the total allocation. I have written to all the State Chief Ministers to ensure lifting of the additional allocations in full and distribute to the targeted beneficiaries. I hope the States will take full advantage of these additional allocations by lifting them in full.
10. Taking into consideration the recommendations of the National Advisory Council, the Expert Committee headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan, and consultations with States, Central Ministries, experts and other stake holders, the Department of Food and Public Distribution has prepared a draft National Food Security Bill. The draft Bill has been placed on the website of the Department inviting comments/suggestions from all stake holders by 30th September. The suggestions received will be suitably considered before finalisation and introduction of the Draft Bill in Parliament. I request all the State Governments to send their comments immediately, if not already sent.
STORAGE
11. Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) started functioning in the North East Region in early sixties and was having a capacity of 1.02 lakh MT with occupancy of 90% as on 31st August, 2011. The State-wise capacity being operated by the CWC in the North Eastern Region in Assam is 65,417 MT, Nagaland – 13,000 MT and Tripura – 24,000 MT.
12. The average utilization of NE Region during last three years viz., 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 was 79%, 93% and 92% respectively. Moreover, Guwahati Region has been incurring losses during the last few years. CWC plans to undertake construction of additional storage capacity of 4,000 MT and 1,280 MT at Sorbhog and Dhubri respectively in the existing vacant land during 2012-13.
13. Besides CWC, the Assam and Meghalaya State Warehousing Corporation (SWCs) are also operating in NE Region. The storage capacity of Assam SWC is 2.52 lakh MT with 75% average occupancy through 44 warehouses whereas the storage capacity of Meghalaya SWC is 0.14 lakh MT with 79% average occupancy through 6 warehouses. The existing capacity of these SWCs is not fully utilized. However, Meghalaya SWC has a plan to construct 6,500 MT capacity in the year 2011-12.
14 A proposal for construction of storage godowns, capacity totaling 5.4 lakh tonnes at a total estimated cost of Rs.568 crore has been prepared by the Department. The Planning Commission had also supported the proposed augmentation of storage capacity in the the North East. The EFC has now approved the proposal.
15. In the proposal there were 8 ongoing projects and 39 new projects were identified In Assam godown at Hailakandi (5,000 MT) has been made storageworthy, however at Changsari where a capacity of 1 lakh tonne is proposed to be built in two phases the progress is not satisfactory due to local issues. The efforts of the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh in identifying and handing over land free of cost has been appreciated. I would request the State Governments to give all possible assistance to the FCI for identifying the lands for construction of godowns.
16. The Department of Food & Public Distribution also releases funds as grants-in-aid to the State Governments of the North-Eastern States for construction of storage godowns under the Plan Scheme. In the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the Planning Commission has allocated Rs. 24 crores for this purpose. Funds have been released to the State Government of Assam, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. However, from many of these State Governments, the Utilization Certificates are still pending making it difficult for further release of funds. I would request the State Governments to expeditiously construct the godowns and submit the Utilization Certificates. The State Governments may also inform the physical progress of the godowns being constructed, to the Department on a regular basis.
SUGAR
17. Enough levy sugar is available with the FCI in their godowns in the North East States. During the month of August, 2011 against allocation of 27,130 MT of levy sugar the State Government lifted 24,762 MT, the percentage of lifting as against allocation being 91.27%. As per report from FCI 11,093MT of sugar was available in FCI godowns of North East at the end of August, 2011. Further during the month of September 2011, 10 rakes of 2688 MT each have already been dispatched upto 26-9-2011 and two more rakes of 2688 MT each are under despatch. State Governments are requested to make arrangements to lift their quotas timely for further distribution in the PDS.
EDIBLE OILS
18. Government of India has implemented a scheme for distribution of subsidized imported edible oils to States/UTs with a subsidy of Rs.15/- per kg since 2008 which was extended in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 and for further period upto 30-9-2012. So far only nine States have sent their request for allocation of edible oils upto September 2011 where states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland have not participated in the Scheme. These States are requested to join the scheme and send their demand. The states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland have implemented stock holding limits of edible oils and oilseeds in their respective states whereas States of Assam and Tripura have not fixed stock limit but imposed licensing requirements/sock declaration. The remaining states are requested to notify and enforce stock holding limits on edible oils/oilseeds in their states in order to discourage hoarding of essential commodities.
I hope the deliberations in the meeting will be very useful in strengthening and revamping the Public Distribution System in the North East.
Speech of MOS (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION for the “6th NATIONAL FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY SUMMIT” to be held on 28th September 2011 at New Delhi.
I must congratulate the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for organizing its 6th Annual Food Safety and Quality Summit. I have been informed that CII’s Institute of Quality has been actively promoting food safety and quality movement in Food Processing Industry since 2001 and they cover wide range of promotional activities involving awareness, training and counseling, sharing best practices and special projects with the Government.
Government of India has been aware of the importance of food safety and quality rather it has been the top priority for the Government. A serious initiative in this direction is the setting up of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The Rules had been notified in May 2011 and has come into force on the 5th August, 2011. This will ensure a proper Food Surveillance System of all foods manufactured in the country as well as those which are brought into the country through various ports of India. For the Industry, it will be beneficial, being a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards by moving from the multi-level, multi-departmental to a single line of regulatory command. For the consumer, it will raise the standards of quality of foods in the market by proper enforcement as well as stringent testing of foodstuff. However, a lot needs to be done to increase the awareness of food safety among the public.
In the past few decades, the increase in the movement of people as well as food across natural borders has changed the patterns of food production and consumption. For example, certain foods eaten after cooking in a certain region may be consumed in its raw form in another region. The expansion in the food trade has facilitated increased availability of food across borders but has also given rise to concerns about food safety.
Traceability plays an important role in the food chain. The ability to trace and keep track of a particular food material through all stages of production from the field to the consumer is crucial in the food chain. Considerable changes are taking place in the field of traceability. Simple hand written and printed labels are being replaced by machine-readable identification such as barcodes and radio-frequency tags. Traceability is also heavily reliant on the amount of information carried in the system. A robust mechanism has to be put in place to facilitate the collection and authentication of all information shared throughout the chain. Effective labeling and legislation will also be highly beneficial to the consumer.
An estimated three million people in developed and developing countries die every year from food and water borne diseases. Frequent occurrences of such diseases could escalate into a food safety emergency situation. Irradiation of food is an important modern food safety tool in fighting food borne illness, however, it is not a substitute for good sanitation and hygiene practices in the process house. Scientific studies have shown that irradiation does not significantly change the nutrient content, flavor and texture of food. It is proven that irradiation of food is effective in destroying harmful bacteria in food, including E-Coli and Salmonella. A lot has still to be done in the field of irradiation such as monitoring of the radiation levels, regulation of radiation procedures and labeling, but most of all getting the public to accept irradiated food.
I must wish success to the Summit and exhort it to come up with a strategic plan of action which will help the nation in strengthening the food security arrangements which must include the capacity building in management of national food stock piles as well as scaling up the community based food security initiatives. This Summit should also come up with recommendations for strengthening integrated food security information systems as well as identify and address issues related to food security. Another outcome of the Summit should be establishing a national emergency prevention system for food safety on the lines of such established international systems so that we can avoid any food safety emergencies.
The increasing geographical spread of food production, processing and consumption chain opens up vulnerabilities at multiple points. Therefore, food safety events at any point in the chain no longer have only a limited local impact but may have world wide effect. That is why it has become even more necessary to award any food safety emergencies which can cause global concern regardless of the source. The Summit may also think on climate change and its likely effect on the occurrence of food safety hazards. We need to develop the framework of the horizon scanning and early warning system for likely food safety threats. While we may emphasis the prevention of emergencies, we must have in place a system for rapid response in case of event occurrence.
Lastly I wish all the best to all the stakeholders in the Summit for coming up with practical recommendations for ensuring national food safety and quality.
Jai Hind
I must congratulate the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for organizing its 6th Annual Food Safety and Quality Summit. I have been informed that CII’s Institute of Quality has been actively promoting food safety and quality movement in Food Processing Industry since 2001 and they cover wide range of promotional activities involving awareness, training and counseling, sharing best practices and special projects with the Government.
Government of India has been aware of the importance of food safety and quality rather it has been the top priority for the Government. A serious initiative in this direction is the setting up of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The Rules had been notified in May 2011 and has come into force on the 5th August, 2011. This will ensure a proper Food Surveillance System of all foods manufactured in the country as well as those which are brought into the country through various ports of India. For the Industry, it will be beneficial, being a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards by moving from the multi-level, multi-departmental to a single line of regulatory command. For the consumer, it will raise the standards of quality of foods in the market by proper enforcement as well as stringent testing of foodstuff. However, a lot needs to be done to increase the awareness of food safety among the public.
In the past few decades, the increase in the movement of people as well as food across natural borders has changed the patterns of food production and consumption. For example, certain foods eaten after cooking in a certain region may be consumed in its raw form in another region. The expansion in the food trade has facilitated increased availability of food across borders but has also given rise to concerns about food safety.
Traceability plays an important role in the food chain. The ability to trace and keep track of a particular food material through all stages of production from the field to the consumer is crucial in the food chain. Considerable changes are taking place in the field of traceability. Simple hand written and printed labels are being replaced by machine-readable identification such as barcodes and radio-frequency tags. Traceability is also heavily reliant on the amount of information carried in the system. A robust mechanism has to be put in place to facilitate the collection and authentication of all information shared throughout the chain. Effective labeling and legislation will also be highly beneficial to the consumer.
An estimated three million people in developed and developing countries die every year from food and water borne diseases. Frequent occurrences of such diseases could escalate into a food safety emergency situation. Irradiation of food is an important modern food safety tool in fighting food borne illness, however, it is not a substitute for good sanitation and hygiene practices in the process house. Scientific studies have shown that irradiation does not significantly change the nutrient content, flavor and texture of food. It is proven that irradiation of food is effective in destroying harmful bacteria in food, including E-Coli and Salmonella. A lot has still to be done in the field of irradiation such as monitoring of the radiation levels, regulation of radiation procedures and labeling, but most of all getting the public to accept irradiated food.
I must wish success to the Summit and exhort it to come up with a strategic plan of action which will help the nation in strengthening the food security arrangements which must include the capacity building in management of national food stock piles as well as scaling up the community based food security initiatives. This Summit should also come up with recommendations for strengthening integrated food security information systems as well as identify and address issues related to food security. Another outcome of the Summit should be establishing a national emergency prevention system for food safety on the lines of such established international systems so that we can avoid any food safety emergencies.
The increasing geographical spread of food production, processing and consumption chain opens up vulnerabilities at multiple points. Therefore, food safety events at any point in the chain no longer have only a limited local impact but may have world wide effect. That is why it has become even more necessary to award any food safety emergencies which can cause global concern regardless of the source. The Summit may also think on climate change and its likely effect on the occurrence of food safety hazards. We need to develop the framework of the horizon scanning and early warning system for likely food safety threats. While we may emphasis the prevention of emergencies, we must have in place a system for rapid response in case of event occurrence.
Lastly I wish all the best to all the stakeholders in the Summit for coming up with practical recommendations for ensuring national food safety and quality.
Jai Hind
SPEECH FOR MOS (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION ON THE OCCASION OF THE “SEA AWARD FUNCTION” TO BE HELD ON 23RD SEPTEMBER, 2011 AT RENAISSANCE MUMBAI HOTEL CONVENTION CENTER, POWAI, MUMBAI.
It gives me great pleasure to be among you on the occasion of the Annual Awards Function of the Solvent Extractor’s Association for honoring the highest processors of Oilcakes, Ricebran, Minor Oilseeds, Highest Exporters of Oilmeal and Highest Producer of Refined Rice Bran Oil for the year 2010-11.
Cultivation of oil seeds in the country is largely dependant on the monsoon, which has been good this year. Hence the oil year 2010-2011 has been very favorable for the Oil Industry. As per the Fourth Advance Estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture, the estimated oilseed production is about 311 lakh tons which is 62.18 lakh tons higher than the last year, 2009-10, an increase of about 25%. Production of oils from these oil seeds is likely to be about 72.69 lakh tons which is 13.81 lakh tons more than the previous year i.e an increase of about 23.5%.The Soyabean crop during 2010-11 is estimated at 126.56 lakh tons which is about 26.93 lakh tons higher than the 2009-10 crop. Mustard production is also likely to be higher than last year by about 10.59 lakh tons.
Despite the higher production of oilseeds and oils this year, there has been an increase in prices of edible oils in the country due to various reasons, domestic as well as international. One of the reasons that has contributed to the increase in the prices of oilseeds and edible oils is the increase in the Minimum Support Price. This is mainly done keeping in mind the interest of the agricultural community and as an incentive to farmers. The MSP is being revised every year. This incentive to farmers has to be increased every year because of increase in cost of inputs. But this increase in cost for incentivising farmers has to be balanced with the interest of the consumers who want lower prices. Price control of edible oils has always been the priority of the Government. To meet the gap between demand and supply, imports of edible oil have been allowed. About 50% of the demand for edible oils is met by imports. However, during the current oil year 58.29 lakh tons of edible oil have been imported as against 61 lakh tons during the corresponding period of 2009-10; a decrease of 4.6%. Better prospects of oilseed production in the current oil year has also facilitated sizeable increase in domestic crushing, reducing vegetable oil import requirement and is good for the domestic industry.
In order to augment the availability of edible oils in the country, export of edible oils has been banned since March 2008. The existing ban on export had been continued during 2009-2011 and now extended for a further period up to 30.09.2012. In a move to liberalize the imports of edible oils, the import duty on edible oils had been revised to zero percent for crude edible oils and to 7.5% on refined edible oils which continues to remain in force.
The implementation of the scheme for distribution of imported oils with a subsidy of Rs 15/-per kg since 2008 has to a great extent helped to moderate domestic prices of edible oils and benefits the poorer sections of society especially BPL households. This scheme has also been extended up to September 2012.
On the technology front, there is an ever increasing need for a multi pronged strategy with a focus on better technology for increasing production of edible oils. Induction of latest technology in edible oil sector is a must for its progress. Better production practices in sectors such as Safety, Health and Environment need to be adopted, with an aim to produce quality products at affordable prices.
I must congratulate the Solvent Extractors Association for their service to the industry. With a membership of over 800 units, not only it is a strong forum for the industry but also a interface with Government Agencies. I am happy to note that you are honoring the highest processors of Oilcakes, Ricebran, Minor Oilseeds and Highest Exporters of Oilmeal and Highest Producer of Refined Rice Bran Oil for the year 2010-11. Such awards will inculcate a spirit of healthy competition within the industry and will also act as an incentive for others to perform better in the future. While I congratulate the winners, I wish to remind them that they should be encouraged by such awards to raise their standards of excellence for serving the nation and society in its quest for health.
I wish to thank the President of the Solvent Extractors Association for inviting me to this forum and wish him all the best in future endeavors of this forum.
It gives me great pleasure to be among you on the occasion of the Annual Awards Function of the Solvent Extractor’s Association for honoring the highest processors of Oilcakes, Ricebran, Minor Oilseeds, Highest Exporters of Oilmeal and Highest Producer of Refined Rice Bran Oil for the year 2010-11.
Cultivation of oil seeds in the country is largely dependant on the monsoon, which has been good this year. Hence the oil year 2010-2011 has been very favorable for the Oil Industry. As per the Fourth Advance Estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture, the estimated oilseed production is about 311 lakh tons which is 62.18 lakh tons higher than the last year, 2009-10, an increase of about 25%. Production of oils from these oil seeds is likely to be about 72.69 lakh tons which is 13.81 lakh tons more than the previous year i.e an increase of about 23.5%.The Soyabean crop during 2010-11 is estimated at 126.56 lakh tons which is about 26.93 lakh tons higher than the 2009-10 crop. Mustard production is also likely to be higher than last year by about 10.59 lakh tons.
Despite the higher production of oilseeds and oils this year, there has been an increase in prices of edible oils in the country due to various reasons, domestic as well as international. One of the reasons that has contributed to the increase in the prices of oilseeds and edible oils is the increase in the Minimum Support Price. This is mainly done keeping in mind the interest of the agricultural community and as an incentive to farmers. The MSP is being revised every year. This incentive to farmers has to be increased every year because of increase in cost of inputs. But this increase in cost for incentivising farmers has to be balanced with the interest of the consumers who want lower prices. Price control of edible oils has always been the priority of the Government. To meet the gap between demand and supply, imports of edible oil have been allowed. About 50% of the demand for edible oils is met by imports. However, during the current oil year 58.29 lakh tons of edible oil have been imported as against 61 lakh tons during the corresponding period of 2009-10; a decrease of 4.6%. Better prospects of oilseed production in the current oil year has also facilitated sizeable increase in domestic crushing, reducing vegetable oil import requirement and is good for the domestic industry.
In order to augment the availability of edible oils in the country, export of edible oils has been banned since March 2008. The existing ban on export had been continued during 2009-2011 and now extended for a further period up to 30.09.2012. In a move to liberalize the imports of edible oils, the import duty on edible oils had been revised to zero percent for crude edible oils and to 7.5% on refined edible oils which continues to remain in force.
The implementation of the scheme for distribution of imported oils with a subsidy of Rs 15/-per kg since 2008 has to a great extent helped to moderate domestic prices of edible oils and benefits the poorer sections of society especially BPL households. This scheme has also been extended up to September 2012.
On the technology front, there is an ever increasing need for a multi pronged strategy with a focus on better technology for increasing production of edible oils. Induction of latest technology in edible oil sector is a must for its progress. Better production practices in sectors such as Safety, Health and Environment need to be adopted, with an aim to produce quality products at affordable prices.
I must congratulate the Solvent Extractors Association for their service to the industry. With a membership of over 800 units, not only it is a strong forum for the industry but also a interface with Government Agencies. I am happy to note that you are honoring the highest processors of Oilcakes, Ricebran, Minor Oilseeds and Highest Exporters of Oilmeal and Highest Producer of Refined Rice Bran Oil for the year 2010-11. Such awards will inculcate a spirit of healthy competition within the industry and will also act as an incentive for others to perform better in the future. While I congratulate the winners, I wish to remind them that they should be encouraged by such awards to raise their standards of excellence for serving the nation and society in its quest for health.
I wish to thank the President of the Solvent Extractors Association for inviting me to this forum and wish him all the best in future endeavors of this forum.
Inaugural Address of Prof. K.V. Thomas, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution at the inaugural function of the 52nd Annual Meeting of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited
Shri Jayantilal B. Patel, President, Mr. Shankarrao G. Kolhe, Vice-President, Mr. Vinay Kumar, Managing Director of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd., distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I am happy to be here in your midst this afternoon to inaugurate the 52nd Annual Meeting of the General Body of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited, the apex body of cooperative sugar factories in the country.
We are meeting at a time when Indian sugar production is on an upswing from 2010-11 season. The country has produced around 24.30 million tonnes of sugar this sugar year which was more than our annual consumption requirement. In order to ensure that the higher production does not lead to mounting cane price arrears and to keep sugar prices stable, the Government allowed sugar factories to export sugar. The objective was to avoid sugar stock build up and resultant drop in prices leading to cane price arrears and to provide additional liquidity to the sugar factories by capitalizing on the low global sugar balance and the better international prices. Consequently, the domestic retail prices of sugar are currently stable.
Coming to ensuing 2011-12 sugar season, I am aware that there is some difference on preliminary estimates of sugar production and efforts are on to reconcile the figures. In any case, it is projected that sugar production in the next season will be more than our consumption needs. The excess production can depress prices. Therefore, I can understand your concern. We are also equally concerned. Keeping in view the estimated opening sugar stocks and the estimated domestic production and consumption in 2011-12 season, the Government will take appropriate steps to maintain price stability so as to ensure that sugar factories make fair realization and pay remunerative cane price to sugarcane farmers and sugar prices remain at reasonable levels.
I would like to remind you that the Central Government has already taken certain long term policy measures with a view to reduce fluctuations in production of sugar. The concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) has been replaced by the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane with effect from 2009-10 season. The FRP provides for upfront payment of margins on account of profit and risk to sugarcane farmers, which was not available under SMP. Further, the Government has allowed sugar factories to produce ethanol directly from sugarcane juice. I am hopeful that these measures should help in reducing the cyclicality in sugar production in coming years.
Mr. Patel had mentioned in his speech that the issue of de-control of sugar has been hanging fire since long and that this is the opportune time to decontrol. You know that decontrol of sugar involves doing away with levy obligation on sugar mills and abolition of release mechanism. As regards levy obligation, I would like to say that it was as high as 65% in seventies which has been reduced to 10% in phases. Further, supply of levy sugar has been restricted to BPL families in the country except in north-eastern states, hill states and island territories where universal coverage has been allowed on account of difficult terrain and other logistics constrains. The Government is committed to supply sugar to poor sections of the society at concessional rate. As such, there has to be some alternate mechanism of supplying sugar to poor families if levy obligation is to be done away with. It needs consultation with State Governments in order to evolve consensus in the matter. With regard to release mechanism, I would say that this system has been continuing to ensure availability of sugar throughout the year at reasonable prices. It has to be remembered that 5 – 6 months sugar production has to be utilized for the entire year. There has to be some alternate mechanism to ensure availability of sugar throughout the year at reasonable prices if the present system is to be dispensed with. I request apex bodies of sugar industry to give suitable suggestions to the Government in this regard. The Government is not averse to decontrol of sugar provided the alternate system is acceptable to all stakeholders. I have requested the Prime Minister to request Dr. C. Rangarajan to look at the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector so that the long standing demand of the industry is examined in a non-partisan manner.
In respect of stockholding limit on sugar traders, I would like to inform you that stockholding and turnover limits have been imposed to check unscrupulous traders to hoard sugar and increase sugar prices by creating artificial scarcity in the market. These limits have recently been reviewed by the Empowered Group of Ministers and it has been decided to extend it up to November, 2011 in view of the ensuing festival and .marriage season when the demand for sugar will be at peak. I hope that sugar prices will remain at reasonable level during these months and there may not be any need to extend the limits beyond November. The stock limits on bulk consumers already stands abolished from 14th August, 2011.
Regarding increasing the radial distance between an existing and new sugar factories, the State Governments have already been authorized to increase it beyond 15 kms with approval of the Central Government. The State Governments of Punjab & Haryana have already been permitted to increase the minimum radial distance to 25 kms in their respective states. If we receive requests from other states, we will consider them also.
My attention has been drawn to the so called ‘injustice’ meted out to negative networth sugar factories with regard to SDF loans. You would appreciate that defaults against loans from the Sugar Development Fund is over Rs. 400 crores in respect of cooperative sugar factories alone. It would be difficult for the Government to put more money unless some concrete steps are taken to improve the management of these mills such that the lenders’ money is made more secure.
I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate the Federation for the promotional work they are doing for the sugarcane farmers. My congratulations to their consultancy team for bagging projects abroad.
I am also very glad that NFCSF is making all efforts to improve the productivity of sugarcane and sugar recovery. At present the yield of sugarcane per hectare varies quite substantially from region to region. There is enormous scope of increasing productivity of sugarcane per hectare. What is required is to make varietal changes looking at agro-climatic factors of each region.
In the end, I would like to congratulate all the factories which are getting efficiency awards this year. I hope that this will motivate the recipient of the awards to improve further their performance and other factories to make all out efforts to get the awards in the coming year. With these words, I inaugurate the 52nd annual meeting of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories.
Inaugural Address of Prof. K.V. Thomas, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution at the inaugural function of the 52nd Annual Meeting of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited on 27th September, 20011 at New Delhi.
Shri Jayantilal B. Patel, President, Mr. Shankarrao G. Kolhe, Vice-President, Mr. Vinay Kumar, Managing Director of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd., distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I am happy to be here in your midst this afternoon to inaugurate the 52nd Annual Meeting of the General Body of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited, the apex body of cooperative sugar factories in the country.
We are meeting at a time when Indian sugar production is on an upswing from 2010-11 season. The country has produced around 24.30 million tonnes of sugar this sugar year which was more than our annual consumption requirement. In order to ensure that the higher production does not lead to mounting cane price arrears and to keep sugar prices stable, the Government allowed sugar factories to export sugar. The objective was to avoid sugar stock build up and resultant drop in prices leading to cane price arrears and to provide additional liquidity to the sugar factories by capitalizing on the low global sugar balance and the better international prices. Consequently, the domestic retail prices of sugar are currently stable.
Coming to ensuing 2011-12 sugar season, I am aware that there is some difference on preliminary estimates of sugar production and efforts are on to reconcile the figures. In any case, it is projected that sugar production in the next season will be more than our consumption needs. The excess production can depress prices. Therefore, I can understand your concern. We are also equally concerned. Keeping in view the estimated opening sugar stocks and the estimated domestic production and consumption in 2011-12 season, the Government will take appropriate steps to maintain price stability so as to ensure that sugar factories make fair realization and pay remunerative cane price to sugarcane farmers and sugar prices remain at reasonable levels.
I would like to remind you that the Central Government has already taken certain long term policy measures with a view to reduce fluctuations in production of sugar. The concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) has been replaced by the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane with effect from 2009-10 season. The FRP provides for upfront payment of margins on account of profit and risk to sugarcane farmers, which was not available under SMP. Further, the Government has allowed sugar factories to produce ethanol directly from sugarcane juice. I am hopeful that these measures should help in reducing the cyclicality in sugar production in coming years
Mr. Patel had mentioned in his speech that the issue of de-control of sugar has been hanging fire since long and that this is the opportune time to decontrol. You know that decontrol of sugar involves doing away with levy obligation on sugar mills and abolition of release mechanism. As regards levy obligation, I would like to say that it was as high as 65% in seventies which has been reduced to 10% in phases. Further, supply of levy sugar has been restricted to BPL families in the country except in north-eastern states, hill states and island territories where universal coverage has been allowed on account of difficult terrain and other logistics constrains. The Government is committed to supply sugar to poor sections of the society at concessional rate. As such, there has to be some alternate mechanism of supplying sugar to poor families if levy obligation is to be done away with. It needs consultation with State Governments in order to evolve consensus in the matter. With regard to release mechanism, I would say that this system has been continuing to ensure availability of sugar throughout the year at reasonable prices. It has to be remembered that 5 – 6 months sugar production has to be utilized for the entire year. There has to be some alternate mechanism to ensure availability of sugar throughout the year at reasonable prices if the present system is to be dispensed with. I request apex bodies of sugar industry to give suitable suggestions to the Government in this regard. The Government is not averse to decontrol of sugar provided the alternate system is acceptable to all stakeholders. I have requested the Prime Minister to request Dr. C. Rangarajan to look at the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector so that the long standing demand of the industry is examined in a non-partisan manner.
In respect of stockholding limit on sugar traders, I would like to inform you that stockholding and turnover limits have been imposed to check unscrupulous traders to hoard sugar and increase sugar prices by creating artificial scarcity in the market. These limits have recently been reviewed by the Empowered Group of Ministers and it has been decided to extend it up to November, 2011 in view of the ensuing festival and .marriage season when the demand for sugar will be at peak. I hope that sugar prices will remain at reasonable level during these months and there may not be any need to extend the limits beyond November. The stock limits on bulk consumers already stands abolished from 14th August, 2011.
Regarding increasing the radial distance between an existing and new sugar factories, the State Governments have already been authorized to increase it beyond 15 kms with approval of the Central Government. The State Governments of Punjab & Haryana have already been permitted to increase the minimum radial distance to 25 kms in their respective states. If we receive requests from other states, we will consider them also.
My attention has been drawn to the so called ‘injustice’ meted out to negative networth sugar factories with regard to SDF loans. You would appreciate that defaults against loans from the Sugar Development Fund is over Rs. 400 crores in respect of cooperative sugar factories alone. It would be difficult for the Government to put more money unless some concrete steps are taken to improve the management of these mills such that the lenders’ money is made more secure.
I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate the Federation for the promotional work they are doing for the sugarcane farmers. My congratulations to their consultancy team for bagging projects abroad.
I am also very glad that NFCSF is making all efforts to improve the productivity of sugarcane and sugar recovery. At present the yield of sugarcane per hectare varies quite substantially from region to region. There is enormous scope of increasing productivity of sugarcane per hectare. What is required is to make varietal changes looking at agro-climatic factors of each region.
In the end, I would like to congratulate all the factories which are getting efficiency awards this year. I hope that this will motivate the recipient of the awards to improve further their performance and other factories to make all out efforts to get the awards in the coming year. With these words, I inaugurate the 52nd annual meeting of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories.
****
Shri Jayantilal B. Patel, President, Mr. Shankarrao G. Kolhe, Vice-President, Mr. Vinay Kumar, Managing Director of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd., distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I am happy to be here in your midst this afternoon to inaugurate the 52nd Annual Meeting of the General Body of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited, the apex body of cooperative sugar factories in the country.
We are meeting at a time when Indian sugar production is on an upswing from 2010-11 season. The country has produced around 24.30 million tonnes of sugar this sugar year which was more than our annual consumption requirement. In order to ensure that the higher production does not lead to mounting cane price arrears and to keep sugar prices stable, the Government allowed sugar factories to export sugar. The objective was to avoid sugar stock build up and resultant drop in prices leading to cane price arrears and to provide additional liquidity to the sugar factories by capitalizing on the low global sugar balance and the better international prices. Consequently, the domestic retail prices of sugar are currently stable.
Coming to ensuing 2011-12 sugar season, I am aware that there is some difference on preliminary estimates of sugar production and efforts are on to reconcile the figures. In any case, it is projected that sugar production in the next season will be more than our consumption needs. The excess production can depress prices. Therefore, I can understand your concern. We are also equally concerned. Keeping in view the estimated opening sugar stocks and the estimated domestic production and consumption in 2011-12 season, the Government will take appropriate steps to maintain price stability so as to ensure that sugar factories make fair realization and pay remunerative cane price to sugarcane farmers and sugar prices remain at reasonable levels.
I would like to remind you that the Central Government has already taken certain long term policy measures with a view to reduce fluctuations in production of sugar. The concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) has been replaced by the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane with effect from 2009-10 season. The FRP provides for upfront payment of margins on account of profit and risk to sugarcane farmers, which was not available under SMP. Further, the Government has allowed sugar factories to produce ethanol directly from sugarcane juice. I am hopeful that these measures should help in reducing the cyclicality in sugar production in coming years.
Mr. Patel had mentioned in his speech that the issue of de-control of sugar has been hanging fire since long and that this is the opportune time to decontrol. You know that decontrol of sugar involves doing away with levy obligation on sugar mills and abolition of release mechanism. As regards levy obligation, I would like to say that it was as high as 65% in seventies which has been reduced to 10% in phases. Further, supply of levy sugar has been restricted to BPL families in the country except in north-eastern states, hill states and island territories where universal coverage has been allowed on account of difficult terrain and other logistics constrains. The Government is committed to supply sugar to poor sections of the society at concessional rate. As such, there has to be some alternate mechanism of supplying sugar to poor families if levy obligation is to be done away with. It needs consultation with State Governments in order to evolve consensus in the matter. With regard to release mechanism, I would say that this system has been continuing to ensure availability of sugar throughout the year at reasonable prices. It has to be remembered that 5 – 6 months sugar production has to be utilized for the entire year. There has to be some alternate mechanism to ensure availability of sugar throughout the year at reasonable prices if the present system is to be dispensed with. I request apex bodies of sugar industry to give suitable suggestions to the Government in this regard. The Government is not averse to decontrol of sugar provided the alternate system is acceptable to all stakeholders. I have requested the Prime Minister to request Dr. C. Rangarajan to look at the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector so that the long standing demand of the industry is examined in a non-partisan manner.
In respect of stockholding limit on sugar traders, I would like to inform you that stockholding and turnover limits have been imposed to check unscrupulous traders to hoard sugar and increase sugar prices by creating artificial scarcity in the market. These limits have recently been reviewed by the Empowered Group of Ministers and it has been decided to extend it up to November, 2011 in view of the ensuing festival and .marriage season when the demand for sugar will be at peak. I hope that sugar prices will remain at reasonable level during these months and there may not be any need to extend the limits beyond November. The stock limits on bulk consumers already stands abolished from 14th August, 2011.
Regarding increasing the radial distance between an existing and new sugar factories, the State Governments have already been authorized to increase it beyond 15 kms with approval of the Central Government. The State Governments of Punjab & Haryana have already been permitted to increase the minimum radial distance to 25 kms in their respective states. If we receive requests from other states, we will consider them also.
My attention has been drawn to the so called ‘injustice’ meted out to negative networth sugar factories with regard to SDF loans. You would appreciate that defaults against loans from the Sugar Development Fund is over Rs. 400 crores in respect of cooperative sugar factories alone. It would be difficult for the Government to put more money unless some concrete steps are taken to improve the management of these mills such that the lenders’ money is made more secure.
I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate the Federation for the promotional work they are doing for the sugarcane farmers. My congratulations to their consultancy team for bagging projects abroad.
I am also very glad that NFCSF is making all efforts to improve the productivity of sugarcane and sugar recovery. At present the yield of sugarcane per hectare varies quite substantially from region to region. There is enormous scope of increasing productivity of sugarcane per hectare. What is required is to make varietal changes looking at agro-climatic factors of each region.
In the end, I would like to congratulate all the factories which are getting efficiency awards this year. I hope that this will motivate the recipient of the awards to improve further their performance and other factories to make all out efforts to get the awards in the coming year. With these words, I inaugurate the 52nd annual meeting of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories.
Inaugural Address of Prof. K.V. Thomas, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution at the inaugural function of the 52nd Annual Meeting of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited on 27th September, 20011 at New Delhi.
Shri Jayantilal B. Patel, President, Mr. Shankarrao G. Kolhe, Vice-President, Mr. Vinay Kumar, Managing Director of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd., distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I am happy to be here in your midst this afternoon to inaugurate the 52nd Annual Meeting of the General Body of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited, the apex body of cooperative sugar factories in the country.
We are meeting at a time when Indian sugar production is on an upswing from 2010-11 season. The country has produced around 24.30 million tonnes of sugar this sugar year which was more than our annual consumption requirement. In order to ensure that the higher production does not lead to mounting cane price arrears and to keep sugar prices stable, the Government allowed sugar factories to export sugar. The objective was to avoid sugar stock build up and resultant drop in prices leading to cane price arrears and to provide additional liquidity to the sugar factories by capitalizing on the low global sugar balance and the better international prices. Consequently, the domestic retail prices of sugar are currently stable.
Coming to ensuing 2011-12 sugar season, I am aware that there is some difference on preliminary estimates of sugar production and efforts are on to reconcile the figures. In any case, it is projected that sugar production in the next season will be more than our consumption needs. The excess production can depress prices. Therefore, I can understand your concern. We are also equally concerned. Keeping in view the estimated opening sugar stocks and the estimated domestic production and consumption in 2011-12 season, the Government will take appropriate steps to maintain price stability so as to ensure that sugar factories make fair realization and pay remunerative cane price to sugarcane farmers and sugar prices remain at reasonable levels.
I would like to remind you that the Central Government has already taken certain long term policy measures with a view to reduce fluctuations in production of sugar. The concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) has been replaced by the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane with effect from 2009-10 season. The FRP provides for upfront payment of margins on account of profit and risk to sugarcane farmers, which was not available under SMP. Further, the Government has allowed sugar factories to produce ethanol directly from sugarcane juice. I am hopeful that these measures should help in reducing the cyclicality in sugar production in coming years
Mr. Patel had mentioned in his speech that the issue of de-control of sugar has been hanging fire since long and that this is the opportune time to decontrol. You know that decontrol of sugar involves doing away with levy obligation on sugar mills and abolition of release mechanism. As regards levy obligation, I would like to say that it was as high as 65% in seventies which has been reduced to 10% in phases. Further, supply of levy sugar has been restricted to BPL families in the country except in north-eastern states, hill states and island territories where universal coverage has been allowed on account of difficult terrain and other logistics constrains. The Government is committed to supply sugar to poor sections of the society at concessional rate. As such, there has to be some alternate mechanism of supplying sugar to poor families if levy obligation is to be done away with. It needs consultation with State Governments in order to evolve consensus in the matter. With regard to release mechanism, I would say that this system has been continuing to ensure availability of sugar throughout the year at reasonable prices. It has to be remembered that 5 – 6 months sugar production has to be utilized for the entire year. There has to be some alternate mechanism to ensure availability of sugar throughout the year at reasonable prices if the present system is to be dispensed with. I request apex bodies of sugar industry to give suitable suggestions to the Government in this regard. The Government is not averse to decontrol of sugar provided the alternate system is acceptable to all stakeholders. I have requested the Prime Minister to request Dr. C. Rangarajan to look at the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector so that the long standing demand of the industry is examined in a non-partisan manner.
In respect of stockholding limit on sugar traders, I would like to inform you that stockholding and turnover limits have been imposed to check unscrupulous traders to hoard sugar and increase sugar prices by creating artificial scarcity in the market. These limits have recently been reviewed by the Empowered Group of Ministers and it has been decided to extend it up to November, 2011 in view of the ensuing festival and .marriage season when the demand for sugar will be at peak. I hope that sugar prices will remain at reasonable level during these months and there may not be any need to extend the limits beyond November. The stock limits on bulk consumers already stands abolished from 14th August, 2011.
Regarding increasing the radial distance between an existing and new sugar factories, the State Governments have already been authorized to increase it beyond 15 kms with approval of the Central Government. The State Governments of Punjab & Haryana have already been permitted to increase the minimum radial distance to 25 kms in their respective states. If we receive requests from other states, we will consider them also.
My attention has been drawn to the so called ‘injustice’ meted out to negative networth sugar factories with regard to SDF loans. You would appreciate that defaults against loans from the Sugar Development Fund is over Rs. 400 crores in respect of cooperative sugar factories alone. It would be difficult for the Government to put more money unless some concrete steps are taken to improve the management of these mills such that the lenders’ money is made more secure.
I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate the Federation for the promotional work they are doing for the sugarcane farmers. My congratulations to their consultancy team for bagging projects abroad.
I am also very glad that NFCSF is making all efforts to improve the productivity of sugarcane and sugar recovery. At present the yield of sugarcane per hectare varies quite substantially from region to region. There is enormous scope of increasing productivity of sugarcane per hectare. What is required is to make varietal changes looking at agro-climatic factors of each region.
In the end, I would like to congratulate all the factories which are getting efficiency awards this year. I hope that this will motivate the recipient of the awards to improve further their performance and other factories to make all out efforts to get the awards in the coming year. With these words, I inaugurate the 52nd annual meeting of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories.
****
ISO GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING – Inaugural speech on 21.9.2011 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
Shri Rajiv Agarwal, Secretary, Consumer Affairs, Shri Sharad Gupta, Director General, Bureau for Indian Standards, Dr. Boris Aleshin, President of the International Organisation for Standardisation, Mr. Robert Steele, Secretary General, International Organisation for Standardisation, distinguished invitees and participants, ladies and gentlemen.
I have great pleasure in associating myself with the 34th General Assembly of the International Organisation for Standardisation. At the outset let me extend a hearty welcome to all the delegates from over 125 countries who are participating in this Assembly which is of great significance in furthering the cause of standardisation across the world. India is justly proud of its role in hosting the General Assembly of the ISO way back in 1964. We are delighted that slightly more than four and half decades later the distinguished representatives of the ISO fraternity are yet again meeting in India. It is noteworthy that the organisation of this Assembly is happily coinciding with the ISO General Assembly week which is being observed from 19th to 24th September 2011.
Standardisation and variety is part and parcel of the creation. Human civilisation in all its marvellous manifestations demonstrate the inalienable process of standardisation which gave shape and meaning to them. We are familiar with the fact that after the Second World War standardisation of goods and services acquired global significance. Therefore 25 countries of the world came together and took a decision to establish an international organisation to unify international standards. As a result the International Standards Organisation was established and commenced its functioning in 1947. I recall that India, which established its Indian Standards Institute in the same year, was one of the founder members of the ISO.
Essentially the process of standardisation was found to be of greater importance in the economic sphere than any other sphere. The predominance of geo-economics as opposed to geo-politics following the end of cold war created necessary conditions for integration of markets of different countries in an unprecedented manner. The issue of standardisation acquired greater currency in such an integrated market. Of late, the import of standardisation has been realised with added vigour in meeting the needs of consumer, trade and industry and above all in promoting the cause of innovation and sustainable development.
The idea and practice of standardisation has always been integral to the vision of our political and technological leadership to revive our economy which suffered colonial exploitation and build our nation along modern lines. Our first Prime Minister and architect of modern India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru while laying the foundation stone of the Indian Standards Institution on 21st August 1954 stressed on high quality and standard of goods and services produced both by big and cottage industries. He also understood standards as essential element of planning. Today India is rated as a major player in determining the contours of global economic growth. The epicentre of world economy is irreversibly shifting to this part of the globe. With the unleashing of our entrepreneurial spirit following the introduction of full-fledged economic reforms in the early 1990s our stature as major economic power house of the world has been acknowledged in glowing terms. Our rate of growth is impressive. It is advantage India because of our huge population, significant component of which is youth. It is against such back ground that we understand the significance of this Assembly.
While talking to you let me bring in a bit of philosophy. To see the larger aspects of life in smaller ones means to have a broader vision. A poet sees the world in a grain of sand. With the world wide adoption of ISO norms the quest for standardised products has become the defining theme of the market. The coordinates of standard now determine the level and extent of the marketability of the product. The late Vice President of India Mr. K.R.Narayanan while inaugurating the world Congress on Total Quality on 19th January 1993 had poetically said that “Vast world market is manifest in a well standardised and quality product”. Therefore, the economies of the world can be easily judged in terms of the standards they have adopted in consonance with the ISO norms.
We in India have always been active supporters of national and international standardisation work. We recognise standardisation as a vital component of our growth engine, an important facilitator of trade and a major tool for protection of consumer interest. A statute of Parliament of 1986, the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986, formally provides a regime to legally uphold the ideal of standards. The enactment of that legislation constituted a landmark in taking forward the cause of our economy. The BIS has been at the forefront of the Government’s effort in providing value based services to the citizens of this country and safeguarding the country’s technological interests by formulating Indian Standards, which reflect India’s technical competence. I am confident that the ISO General Assembly will help the Bureau of Standards to showcase the robustness of standardisation in India at the world stage and demonstrate competence and competitiveness of our industry and trade.
Friends, If we study and survey the total quality movement we find that the quality of a product has to be understood in terms not only the quality of the end product but also in terms of the quality of management, quality of human relations, of company performance, and work environment. It is, therefore, evident that quality of a product is understood in a very comprehensive and overarching sense.
In a similar vein the movement for standardisation has to be all encompassing. It has of course to be related to the product, consumer, trade, industry and all the stakeholders. But it has to also address the issue of sustainability of business which has to be in harmony with nature and the larger planet. A planetary consciousness has to be developed in evolving the standards.
In this context, it is heartening to note that the ISO has already published International Standard on Energy Management System (ISO 50001). This will help to address the challenge of energy management in the world. I am given to understand that the ISO is organising a regional seminar on ISO 50001 in New Delhi during November 2011. I am sure that it will be a precursor to the many other forward looking steps for reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. I am also given to understand that international standards in the areas of financial planning, tourism, market research and exhibition management are being developed. This is a welcome development.
Distinguished delegates, this is the age of innovation. Without innovation economy, industry and growth will be stunted. The father of management discipline, Professor Peter Drucker in his article ‘The Age of Social Transformation’ famously stated that fast emerging knowledge society will depend critically on innovation. We in India had established an Innovation Council. It is, therefore, important that the ISO should foster new initiatives and proactively anticipate new areas where international standardisation might support innovation. In fact standardisation is compatible with innovation. This idea must be driven home across the world through the ISO. This is essential to make business, particularly small business, more competitive and productive. In fact standardisation and variety constitute the recipe for progress. It is very thoughtful on the part of the organisers to have chosen the theme “Industry and Standards - Fostering Innovation and Building Competitive Advantage” for tomorrow’s Open Session. I wish the deliberations all success and hope that all stakeholders will benefit from its proceedings.
I am sure that the convening of this Assembly will enable our Government and private sector and all other stake holders to remain tuned to the ever evolving standards which are adopted in every economic activity across the world. I once again welcome you and wish you a comfortable and enjoyable stay in India. I have great pleasure in declaring the 34th ISO General Assembly open and am confident that deliberations of the Assembly will be productive, constructive and forward looking.
Thank you.
JAI HIND.
Inaugural Address
by
Prof. K V Thomas
Hon’ble Minister (Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution) of India
at the 34th General Assembly
of
the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
0930 h, Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi
Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, Secretary (Consumer Affairs); Mr. Sharad Gupta, Director General, BIS; Dr. Boris Aleshin, ISO President; Mr. Rob Steele, ISO Secretary-General; distinguished invitees and participants at the 34th General Assembly of the ISO, ladies and gentlemen,
It is indeed a momentous occasion for the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India and a Statutory body under the aegis of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, to host the 34th General Assembly of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This is not the first time that India is hosting the ISO General Assembly, having hosted it earlier in the year 1964. It, however, remains a great privilege and an honour for us to invite and host the ISO fraternity at New Delhi, India during the ISO General Assembly week from 19th to 24th September 2011. It gives me great pleasure to be here in your midst today and welcome the delegates of the ISO’s worldwide family, which now includes the national standards bodies of 162 countries. I am told that delegates from over 125 countries are present here today.
Standardization has been with us since time immemorial. Right from the movement of stars in our solar system to our household goods, standardization is all pervasive and can not be missed. It is so deeply ingrained in our lives that we fail to notice it in routine. There exist innumerable examples of benefits of standardization and yet it merits mention that standardization was never more relevant to us than now, particularly, in today’s globalized world under the WTO-TBT regime.
Standardization has had a long tradition in India. The Indian Standards Institution, the predecessor of BIS, was one of the founder-members of the ISO. BIS has had a long association with the ISO and two of its nominees have also been the Presidents of ISO, Dr. J. Ghandhy (for the 1965-1967 term) and Dr. D.C. Kothari (for the 1983-1985 term). The founder Director General of BIS, Dr. Lal C. Verman was also the Vice President of ISO during 1949-1954. BIS is an active and prominent member of the ISO, contributing in both, the technical work and the governance of the ISO. It has been a member of the ISO Council in the past, besides being a member of its policy development committees like DEVCO, COPOLCO and CASCO. BIS is also an elected member of the Technical Management Board. It is also a member of 611 technical committee and sub-committees of ISO, with secretarial responsibilities for 8 of these technical committees and sub-committees.
The BIS, without doubt, is one of the leading service providing organizations in the country, especially in the fields of standardization and conformity assessment and has been at the forefront in the Government’s efforts in providing value based services to the citizens of this great nation. It has the mandate of representing India in the global standardization arena. In today’s regime of international trade, BIS shoulders the unenviable responsibility of safeguarding the country’s technological interests by formulating Indian Standards, which reflect India’s technical competence. India’s captive consumer base and massive technically trained workforce place it in a position to decisively influence the course of world history in the 21st century. BIS’s role as a prominent member of the ISO will be no exception.
The Government of India has always been an active supporter of national and international standardization work, having supported the establishment of the Indian Standards Institution at the dawn of independence in India and later, restructuring it into a Statutory Body in 1987 through the enactment of the BIS Act, 1986. It recognizes standardization as an important facilitator for trade and for protection of consumers’ interests. It also realizes that India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and standardization is a vital component of its growth engine. We also recognize that international standards reduce technical barriers to international trade by providing uniform level playing field to suppliers from developed, developing and under developed countries. Thus, active participation in international standardization efforts is in the interest of all.
There is a growing expectation from the international standards of all sectors of economy, which the ongoing and future standardization efforts must take into consideration. International standards must facilitate sustainable development, for that is the way to proceed in future. It is heartening to note that ISO has already published International Standard on Energy Management Systems (ISO 50001), which will provided the much needed fillip to the cause of energy management, particularly, in the developing world. I also note that ISO is organizing a regional seminar on ISO 50001 in New Delhi during 21-23 November 2011. This, I hope, is the first of many such initiatives to follow. I am also told that International Standards in the areas of financial planning, market research, tourism, as well as exhibition management are under development. ISO should now foster new initiatives and proactively anticipate new areas where international standardization might support dissemination of innovation. Far from stifling innovation, standards encourage it – but this message must be communicated in each country in order to help businesses – and in particular small businesses – to understand the value of standardization.
Standardization has helped the Indian industry to come up with quality produce, conforming to International Standards, which has enabled them to compete effectively and efficiently at the global stage and garner its share of the world market. The exports, over the years, have steadily increased. Indian produce is able to compete with the best at the global stage, both in terms of quality and cost. There is a realization in India that International standards, as per WTO-TBT agreement, play significant role, particularly in Technical Regulations. Therefore, effective participation in the international standardization is critical to continual growth of India. I am confident that this ISO General Assembly will also help BIS to show-case the deep-rooted robustness of standardization in India at the world stage and to demonstrate the competence and competitiveness of our industry and trade.
In this background, I feel that the theme of tomorrow’s Open Session, that is, Industry and Standards – Fostering Innovation and Building Competitive Advantage, has been very aptly chosen. I am confident that tomorrow’s Open Session will help the Indian industry and consumers to understand the benefits of national and international standardization activities in trade and economic growth. This would also enhance participation of all stakeholders in the development of national and international standards.
This event is being hosted by us in New Delhi, the capital of India, which is not only a great historical city, but is also a curious mix of tradition and modern life-style, new-age architecture and world-heritage monuments, densely populated but with vast open spaces. New Delhi also epitomizes the all-round socio-economic progress made by India since Independence. Last but not the least, it provides us an opportunity to show-case the standard of Indian hospitality to the world. I feel great pleasure in declaring the 34th ISO General Assembly open and wish you all a highly successful and memorable ISO General Assembly.
JAI HIND
by
Prof. K V Thomas
Hon’ble Minister (Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution) of India
at the 34th General Assembly
of
the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
0930 h, Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi
Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, Secretary (Consumer Affairs); Mr. Sharad Gupta, Director General, BIS; Dr. Boris Aleshin, ISO President; Mr. Rob Steele, ISO Secretary-General; distinguished invitees and participants at the 34th General Assembly of the ISO, ladies and gentlemen,
It is indeed a momentous occasion for the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India and a Statutory body under the aegis of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, to host the 34th General Assembly of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This is not the first time that India is hosting the ISO General Assembly, having hosted it earlier in the year 1964. It, however, remains a great privilege and an honour for us to invite and host the ISO fraternity at New Delhi, India during the ISO General Assembly week from 19th to 24th September 2011. It gives me great pleasure to be here in your midst today and welcome the delegates of the ISO’s worldwide family, which now includes the national standards bodies of 162 countries. I am told that delegates from over 125 countries are present here today.
Standardization has been with us since time immemorial. Right from the movement of stars in our solar system to our household goods, standardization is all pervasive and can not be missed. It is so deeply ingrained in our lives that we fail to notice it in routine. There exist innumerable examples of benefits of standardization and yet it merits mention that standardization was never more relevant to us than now, particularly, in today’s globalized world under the WTO-TBT regime.
Standardization has had a long tradition in India. The Indian Standards Institution, the predecessor of BIS, was one of the founder-members of the ISO. BIS has had a long association with the ISO and two of its nominees have also been the Presidents of ISO, Dr. J. Ghandhy (for the 1965-1967 term) and Dr. D.C. Kothari (for the 1983-1985 term). The founder Director General of BIS, Dr. Lal C. Verman was also the Vice President of ISO during 1949-1954. BIS is an active and prominent member of the ISO, contributing in both, the technical work and the governance of the ISO. It has been a member of the ISO Council in the past, besides being a member of its policy development committees like DEVCO, COPOLCO and CASCO. BIS is also an elected member of the Technical Management Board. It is also a member of 611 technical committee and sub-committees of ISO, with secretarial responsibilities for 8 of these technical committees and sub-committees.
The BIS, without doubt, is one of the leading service providing organizations in the country, especially in the fields of standardization and conformity assessment and has been at the forefront in the Government’s efforts in providing value based services to the citizens of this great nation. It has the mandate of representing India in the global standardization arena. In today’s regime of international trade, BIS shoulders the unenviable responsibility of safeguarding the country’s technological interests by formulating Indian Standards, which reflect India’s technical competence. India’s captive consumer base and massive technically trained workforce place it in a position to decisively influence the course of world history in the 21st century. BIS’s role as a prominent member of the ISO will be no exception.
The Government of India has always been an active supporter of national and international standardization work, having supported the establishment of the Indian Standards Institution at the dawn of independence in India and later, restructuring it into a Statutory Body in 1987 through the enactment of the BIS Act, 1986. It recognizes standardization as an important facilitator for trade and for protection of consumers’ interests. It also realizes that India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and standardization is a vital component of its growth engine. We also recognize that international standards reduce technical barriers to international trade by providing uniform level playing field to suppliers from developed, developing and under developed countries. Thus, active participation in international standardization efforts is in the interest of all.
There is a growing expectation from the international standards of all sectors of economy, which the ongoing and future standardization efforts must take into consideration. International standards must facilitate sustainable development, for that is the way to proceed in future. It is heartening to note that ISO has already published International Standard on Energy Management Systems (ISO 50001), which will provided the much needed fillip to the cause of energy management, particularly, in the developing world. I also note that ISO is organizing a regional seminar on ISO 50001 in New Delhi during 21-23 November 2011. This, I hope, is the first of many such initiatives to follow. I am also told that International Standards in the areas of financial planning, market research, tourism, as well as exhibition management are under development. ISO should now foster new initiatives and proactively anticipate new areas where international standardization might support dissemination of innovation. Far from stifling innovation, standards encourage it – but this message must be communicated in each country in order to help businesses – and in particular small businesses – to understand the value of standardization.
Standardization has helped the Indian industry to come up with quality produce, conforming to International Standards, which has enabled them to compete effectively and efficiently at the global stage and garner its share of the world market. The exports, over the years, have steadily increased. Indian produce is able to compete with the best at the global stage, both in terms of quality and cost. There is a realization in India that International standards, as per WTO-TBT agreement, play significant role, particularly in Technical Regulations. Therefore, effective participation in the international standardization is critical to continual growth of India. I am confident that this ISO General Assembly will also help BIS to show-case the deep-rooted robustness of standardization in India at the world stage and to demonstrate the competence and competitiveness of our industry and trade.
In this background, I feel that the theme of tomorrow’s Open Session, that is, Industry and Standards – Fostering Innovation and Building Competitive Advantage, has been very aptly chosen. I am confident that tomorrow’s Open Session will help the Indian industry and consumers to understand the benefits of national and international standardization activities in trade and economic growth. This would also enhance participation of all stakeholders in the development of national and international standards.
This event is being hosted by us in New Delhi, the capital of India, which is not only a great historical city, but is also a curious mix of tradition and modern life-style, new-age architecture and world-heritage monuments, densely populated but with vast open spaces. New Delhi also epitomizes the all-round socio-economic progress made by India since Independence. Last but not the least, it provides us an opportunity to show-case the standard of Indian hospitality to the world. I feel great pleasure in declaring the 34th ISO General Assembly open and wish you all a highly successful and memorable ISO General Assembly.
JAI HIND
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