Bihar-Heaven for food adulterators and fraudsters?

Though Bihar has been hogging all the lime light lately for all wrong reasons, what is sad to hear is the pathetic infrastructure the state has for protecting the citizens from rampant adulteration of almost all foods sold in the market place. There are lakhs and lakhs of retailers and traders selling a diverse basket of foods that include essential materials like cereal, pulses and edible oils while milk vendors, thousands of them, selling milk at the door steps of many households. According to some studies the extent of adulteration in these essential food items can be as high as 50-60% with the hapless citizens there being taken for a ride with or without their knowledge. While many adulterants might be innocuous and considered economic offenses, there are many instances when food materials contain dangerous components, extraneous to the original food with the potential to cause serious health disorders. Unless there is constant vigilance and deterrent action the food criminals will have no fear of the law. How can any responsible government in a state like Bihar rest in peace when its citizens are exposed to dangerous adulterants in their day to day foods? Obviously this does not seem to be a priority area deserving attention at the hands of the current rulers in the state. Here is a take on this unfortunate state of affairs in that state vis-a-vis food safety. 

"ood safety is a matter of concern, thanks to a nationwide row over Maggi. Bihar's food safety wing has, however, only 14 officers to man its 38 districts.  In contrast, the food safety officers number 554 in Tamil Nadu, 273 in UP, 178 in Gujarat, 169 in Madhya Pradesh and 87 in Jammu & Kashmir, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) website. Bihar food safety commissioner Anand Kishor candidly admits this wing is understaffed. "But the health department has accepted a proposal to create 625 posts of food safety officers. The finance department will soon give its nod to it," he said."

Is it not ridiculous that the FSSAI vested with the responsibility of ensuring food safety in all states in the country is wasting its time and resources chasing the noodle manufacturers showing its "fangs" on imaginary safety issues while the common man who hardly consume any noodle is left to fend for himself? They are more concerned about punishing one noodle manufacturer than taking action to protect the poor people of Bihar! Otherwise how can any one explain the sordid state of food safety management that exists in that state where just 14 personnel are supposed to "look after" 38 districts through preventive and deterrent actions which only can keep the fraudsters on their toes? Even in a smaller state like Tamilnadu there are 20 times more personnel to carry out surveillance in the market than that in Bihar. Will the situation improve after the installation of the new "Lalubetaraj" there? Unlikely because the Rs 1000 crore animal feed scam is still fresh in the memory of every concerned India. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

SCHOOL FEEDING-THE KARNATAKA SITUATION

After the Bihar midday meal program tragedy every state government vested with the management of this education-cum nutrition oriented Central scheme woke up suddenly running helter skelter for cover fearing that their weaknesses also would be exposed. School inspections became more frequent and erring officials were hauled up for not doing their job properly. But all these knee jerk reactions slowly faded away once the news became "cold" and forgotten by every body. Here is a typical PRO exercise by the Karnataka government to claim how efficient they are!

"Maintaining that the scheme in the state was near to 100% error free, the minister said over 60 lakh school children are getting the benefits of mid-day meal every day. "Barring one incident, where a girl child died after slipping into sambar vessel last year, the scheme is running successfully since it was introduced in 2002. More than 6 crore children have benefitted by the scheme till date," Ratnakar said. Mid-day meals is being given in around 55,000 schools and the government was into building quality kitchens in these schools. Only 75% of the schools have kitchens. Ratnakar said the Centre has announced that it would provide Rs 3 lakh to built a kitchen and Rs 5,000 to buy utensils. "There is also scheme where Centre will provide Rs 3,500 per month to grow vegetables in water availability areas. Rs 7,000 grant per month on big schemes and government has planned to give milk from August at a cost of Rs 600 crore," he said. Of the Rs 18,000 crore allocation for the department, Rs 11,000 are being spent on the salary. Ratnakar informed that Rs 180 crore was being spent on providing free uniforms every year and Rs 3,500 crore needed upgrade school buildings".

Is it not a tragedy that instead of getting down to the basics and having introspection, governments tend to take high moral grounds trying to defend a system which is moribund at its best? The lay out is such that the present school feeding program cannot be an instrument of furthering the education system because the very purpose of the school is shifted from teaching to cooking food for all the children whether they want it or not. Teachers hardly aware of the logistics of mass cooking and feeding are forced to take up the chore against their free will. Sanitation and hygiene conditions can never be safe enough to ensure safety of children. Water used, qualitatively and quantitatively, is unsatisfactory. In the face of these heavy odds the government spokesperson is trying to defend the indefensible. Good luck to him till the next food related episodes which are waiting to happen, in spite of all the good intentions!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE KILLING SCHOOLS OF INDIA-MIDDAY MEAL TRAGEDY IN BIHAR

Can the ruthless politicians and arrogant bureaucrats hear the wailing of parents in Chhapra, Bihar after the latter lost their most precious possessions-their tender children? In stead of apologizing for their callousness and unconscionable guilt for not preventing an avoidable tragedy, they are bickering among themselves regarding the culprits for this ghastly man created tragedy and it is a shame on the education minister in that state to imply openly that these children were deliberately poisoned by his opponents! Where is the moral high grounds usually taken by honest administrators when inefficiency and neglect on their part cause such fatal episodes under their care?  This Blogger recently raised the most crucial question in one of his Blogs regarding the suitability of schools to cook safe and nutritious foods and highlighted the dangers posed by ill-equipped teaching shops in undertaking food cooking. (Please refer to http://vhpotty.blogspot.in/2013/06/schools-in-india-are-they-meant-for.html). To receive such a news within a matter of few days of publishing the above piece is shocking indeed! If the recent public debate on this issue in one of the English Channels is closely followed one can realize that such episodes occur fairly frequently with the governments least concerned about its impact on innocent children of this country being subjected to such grave risks by sending to killer schools like the one in Chhapra. Here is a take on the Chhapra episode.  

"21 children have died as a result of the free lunch they were served in that school yesterday.  Officials say it appears that the meal of lentils, vegetables and rice was contaminated with insecticides; a forensic report is due later this evening. Another 30 children remain ill in hospital in Chhapra, some of them lying listless on stretchers, intravenous drips attached to their tiny arms. "My children had gone to school to study. They came back home crying, and said it hurts," one distraught father told NDTV.  "I took them into my arms, but they kept crying, saying their stomach hurt very badly." As weeping parents mourned, political parties delivered stunning responses.The ruling Janata Dal United said it is being targeted  by "a deep-rooted conspiracy." Spokesperson KC Tyagi said, " The way the opposition of Bihar is responding, I feel that it is a big conspiracy. They want to destabilise the Bihar Government."  he BJP, which was booted out last month from a 17-year partnership with the Janata Dal United, backed some locals who said that  officials took too long to organise ambulances for children after they fell violently ill at school. It took 15 hours to evacuate the children. This is criminal negligence and the state government is responsible for this," said Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the BJP".

The sum and substance of the stand taken by this Blogger was that most schools are ill-equipped in terms of facilities, spare time and skilled personnel required to cook decent foods and therefore there must be a rethinking on the present policy of the government to serve "hot foods" which carries with it grave risks to the lives of tender children being sent by their parents to receive basic education. Packed foods manufactured by established food processing industrial units, standardized to contain the optimum levels of essential nutrients, are far more preferable though there could be an element of monotony in terms of taste factors. But this is not a problem which cannot be solved provided reputed food research agencies and nutrition experts join hands to evolve a basket of products with impeccable credentials which can be prepared in the schools with minimum risks before feeding the children. One of the Parliamentary Committees  of the very same government recommended packed foods three months ago which was irresponsibly ignored! Is there some substance in the argument that politicians of all hues and colors are least interested in the well being of children going to government schools because their own children go to fancy schools paying enormous fees for their education? It is for people to brood over such an allegation and act appropriately during the election time!    

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

  

INTEGRATED FARMING CONCEPT-WILL IT WORK IN INDIA?

Farmers in India are greatly disadvantaged from many angles compared to their counterparts in developed countries. Constraints include small land holdings, uncertain rains, escalating input costs, financial problems, lack of farm insurance coverage, market distortions etc but in one way the Minimum Support Prices offered by government procurement agencies for at least some crops gives them some solace. No matter what innovations are brought about the lot of the farmers is unlikely to be improved dramatically unless their income is augmented through activities other than cultivation. Land consolidation would have brought about higher productivity but that is not workable in the country due to obsessive attachment to land through generations but on the other hand land fragmentation is pound to continue with successive generations. It is against this background that one has to view with some hope the recent activities of agricultural research and development groups in Bihar to increase farm income through diversification of cultivation practices that is expected to augment the farmer income. Here is a take on this new initiative which can have far reaching impact on farmers of this country. Here is a take on this new development. 

"Many research institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and state agricultural universities are currently engaged in this effort. They are conceiving and testing integrated farming to suit their respective regions. At the behest of the Bihar government, Patna-based ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region has come out with some reliable and field-tested comprehensive farming systems, suitable for small and marginal farmers in the state and other nearby areas. Over 75 per cent of the farmers in Bihar have land holdings of less than half a hectare. Worse, most of these tiny holdings are highly fragmented and not suitable for single-enterprise-based agriculture. The blend of enterprises that the Patna centre has found most apt and lucrative for farms of less than one hectare comprises growing crops (grains, vegetables, fruits and fodder) along with poultry and goat keeping. Mushroom production, which does not require much land, can also be a part of this combination. All these activities go well together, and can help farmers meet their household needs, as well as procure enough produce for sale. Going by the research centre's estimate, this combination of enterprises enables a one-hectare land holder earn a net annual income of over Rs 1.42 lakh with an expenditure of Rs 24,250 on inputs. For a two hectare field, experts suggest a blend of cereals, vegetables and fruit crops along with fish-cum-duck farming. The net income from such an integrated farm is estimated at Rs 2 lakh. About half of the field in both cases is recommended to be devoted to crops, including cereals (rice and wheat) and vegetables (cabbage, peas and cauliflower). The bund of fields and ponds can be utilised for planting fruit trees like banana, lemon and guava. Vegetables borne on climbers, such as Cucurbits, too, can be grown on boundaries and built on fences. Separate thatched sheds can be erected for keeping livestock (goats or cows). Ponds - dug on about one-fifth of the farmland - can be used to raise ducks along with mutually compatible fish species that source their feed from different water depths, such as Catla (surface feeder), Rohu (middle-column feeder) and Mrigal (bottom feeder). Duck droppings serve as good manure for fish ponds. Vermiculture, which is recommended as part of all integrated farming ventures, help convert organic wastes into vermicompost with the help of earthworms. Besides being rich in major as well micro plant nutrients, the presence of live earthworms in this compost helps improve the physical structure of the soil and its fertility. Though these models of integrated farming have been devised especially for Bihar's agro-ecological conditions, scientists maintain that these can be used in almost all states with some situation-specific modifications. Apart from being environment-friendly and sustainable, such farming systems ensure optimal and cost-effective use of land and other resources. Up to 20 per cent reduction in production costs has been observed in impact studies. Convinced of the gains from this approach, especially for small and marginal farmers, the Bihar government has begun offering a subsidy of Rs 10,000 to every farmer who adopts this technology. Other states, too, need to consider promoting integrated farming to strengthen the livelihood security of their resource-poor farmers"

Though the concept of integrated farming cannot be considered a brand new one as such activities are in vogue in countries with good results, its relevance is being brought out by these attempts in Bihar. While the concept is relatively simple, its wide scale practice by Indian farmers may depend on adequate training which must be doe by a dedicated extension workers. There needs to be a national crop map based on which the crop mix has to be decided and continuous monitoring and help may be necessary to ensure these new approach to farmer development is implemented at the ground level. There is a wide gap between what the scientists are doing in their laboratory or demonstration plots within the University and translation of their findings to the farmers' fields which needs to be addressed. Indian farmer is in no ay inferior to those in other countries as exemplified by the successive bumper crops being harvested in this country in spite of lot of adversities and they will not be found wanting in implementing the new farming technology as being promoted in Bihar.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ANOTHER "OLD WINE" IN NEW BOTTLE!

Hunger for publicity and attention can be a disease with some people including scientists. There have been many instances in the past that based on half baked research, tall claims are made in the media which ultimately fizzle out. Human memory being extremely short when it comes to subjects of no immediate concern personally, many such habitual "loud mouths" get away unscathed to repeat the same after some time. Here is an example of a scientist from Bihar "claiming" development and transfer of a technology for making wine from litchi fruit!

"It's sweet, pulpy, juicy and perfect wine material. The litchi may soon be seen in a new avatar as two private companies are keen to use the fruit - that grows in abundance in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district - to produce wine.Kingfisher and Litchika International have approached Muzaffarpur-based National Litchi Research Centre to sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to use its technology for making litchi-flavoured wine, said K.K. Kumar, director of the centre. Kumar told IANS that scientists at the centre had developed litchi-flavoured wine by mixing pulpy extracts of the fruit with various types of spirits. They replicated the technology after conducting preliminary laboratory experiments in Thailand and Beijing. The union agriculture ministry recently approved the litchi centre's proposal to transfer its technology of making litchi- flavoured wine".

In what way Litchi wine making is different from wine processing from other fruits such as grapes is not clear. Why preliminary experiments were carried out in Thailand and Beijing is also some thing which does not make any sense. During the peak prohibition days in nineteen sixties, there were many bootleggers in Bombay, with illegal cottage scale breweries in their backyards fermenting practically any sugary material into readily acceptable liquor products with varying alcohol concentration. They neither were technologists nor had any technical help from scientists. Assuming that Kingfisher really approached the above Center for buying the so called technology, it is a mystery as to what such a well established liquor giant, is going to gain from the above government organization when the company has some of the top brewing experts in their fold, capable of making wine from Litchi in their existing facilities.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com