ood Minister K V Thomas on Monday said the government will take a time-bound decision on the Rangarajan committee's recommendations on freeing sugar industry.

Talking to the media on the the sideline of a function in New Delhi, Mr Thomas said the panel's report will not be put on backburner and the decision will be taken after receiving views on it from the Prime Minister's Office.

AIR correspondent reports, the panel, which was set up in January this year under the chairmanship of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan, released a report last week recommending scrapping of government control on the sugar sector to push the reform process further.

Asked if the government plans to impose minimum export price, MEP, on onions to augment domestic supply, Mr Thomas said let it continue without MEP.

Onion exports have presently slowed down due to sluggish supply following drop in the kharif output. This has also put pressure on domestic prices

he Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prof K V Thomas inaugurated a Cruise Passenger Facilitation Centre at the Cochin Port today.

The Facilitation Centre, covering an area of 1500 square meter has dedicated Customs and Immigration Counters, X-ray scanning machines, metal detectors, rest rooms and prayer rooms for the convenience of cruise passengers.

The Centre has been set up at a cost of nearly six crore rupees, of which the union Ministry of Tourism has contributed about five crore rupees.

The Cochin Port has emerged as a major hub of cruise tourism in recent years, hosting 44 luxury cruise vefssels and nearly 58,000 tourists last year alone.

The National Consumer Helpline received more than eleven thousand calls during July this year. Besides this, around one thousand complaints were received through an online complaint system on its website. 

The government is making all efforts to ensure storage in wake of record production and highest ever procurement of food grains this year.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Food and Consumers affairs Minister Professor K V Thomas said that these measures include protection of foodgrains stored in unscientific katcha cap , increase in the capacity utilization of the Food Corporation of India, FCI godowns and additional allocation of food grains to BPL and APL families. 

Professor Thomas said government has allocated 59.8 million tonnes of rice and wheat under Targetted Public Distribution System, TPDS and other welfare schemes. 

This include 6 million tonnes additional allocation this year for APL category. It increases per family allocation from 10 kilograms to 15 kilograms of foodgrains in 22 States and Union Territories. 

He said 5 million tonns additional allocation is being given for Below Poverty Line, BPL families which will benefit 1 crores 80 lakhs additional BPL families.

The National Consumer Helpline, NCH, has received more than twelve thousand calls during the last month. Besides, six hundred and seventy one complaints were also received through online complaint system on its website. The maximum calls were received from Delhi followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Rajasthan. As per feedback received from 1293 callers, 1074 complaints were resolved under convergence with various companies.

AIR correspondent reports that consumers from across the country can access the toll free number of NCH seek telephonic counseling for consumer related problems faced by them. The number is 1800-11-400 and. The helpline number also provides information, advice and guidance related to consumer issues. Consumers can also resister their complaints on the website-www.nationalconsumerhelpline.in.

The Centre has offered assistance to the States to setup Grain testing laboratories across the country. After inaugurating the modernised Central Grain Analysis Laboratory in New Delhi today, the Minister of Consumer Affairs Mr. K.V Thomas said he has written a letter to the states in this regard and the process is already on. Mr. Thomas said, the Centre has offered to financial assistance on a sharing basis. He said, the Centre has also agreed to impart trainning of the staff of State Grain Analysis laboratories. He said, the opening of seven Quality control cells at Guwahati, Patna, Chandigarh, Jammu, Jaipur, Chennai and Ahmedabad will assist the state agencies for handling foodgrains procurement, storage and distribution. Mr. Thomas also said the shortage of jute bags in Madhya Pradesh was due to the lack of proper assessment by the State government for the record wheat procurement in the state, He said, in November the state government assessment was for 65 lakh which was later revised by the State government to 80 lakh. Mr. Thomas said, the Centre is monitoring the situation to do the needful. The Central Grain Analysis Laboratory inaugurated today in New Delhi is equipped with the state of the art equipments for analyzing food grain samples at faster rate with more accuracy.  The Minister of Consumer Affairs Mr. K.V Thomas also inaugurated the redesigned website of the ministry of Consumer Affair, Food & public distribution.  The minister said, all latest data and information will be put on the website for transparency and to improve efficiency.

The government has taken several measures to strengthen the nutritional levels of the most vulnerable sections of the population, particularly pregnant and lactating mothers and children upto the age of six years. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister K.V. Thomas informed that several schemes and programmes are being implemented. 

These include Supplementary Nutrition Programme under the integrated child
development scheme, ICDS, Midday Meal scheme, Matritva Sahyog Yojana and Annapurna scheme. Prof. Thomas said that several measures are also been taken to streamline the Public Distribution System. 

These include the 9 Point Action Plan, action against possession of bogus ration cards, increased transparency in the functioning of TPDS and use of ICT tools such as computerization of TPDS operation

The government today said that the growth of sugar industry in the country is critical for rural development as 50 million farmers and their families are dependent on it. Addressing the 41st session of the International Sugar Council in New Delhi, the Finance Minister Mr Mukherjee said that the industry has supported employment in various ancillary activities. 

Mr. Mukherjee said that government has taken a number of steps to revitalise the sugar industry so that it is in a position to reap the advantages of free and growing market. The minster said that the government has been seeking to stablize sugar prices by moderating volatility during scarce and surplus domestic sugar seasons. 

Mr Mukherjee stressed the need to ensure that the sugar sector has access to the latest technology for enhancing production and productivity. He urged the Council to take necessary steps for collaborative research and development so that entire sugar industry across the world benefits from it.

Mr Mukherjee emphasised the importance of global co-operation in research and development of sugar technologies to unlock the full potential of the industry in developing countries.

Speaking on the ocassion Food and Consumer Affairs minister K V Thomas said that the main concern of the government is that sugarcane farmers get due share of their labour time and energies invested by them on the field.

The government is considering to set up an inter-ministerial group to tackle the menace of misleading advertisements. 

Consumer Affairs, Food and Public distribution Minister K V Thomas said this in New Delhi while inaugurating the 5th and final seminar on Impact of misleading advertisements on consumers. He said, the government will find out the ways to curb the misleading advertisements on the basis of suggestions that came up in this seminar and 4 similar seminars held at regional levels.

Mr. Thomas said, advertising standards and self regulation by the advertising industry is an important issue, particularly in India, where a majority of the consumers live in rural areas. He added that there is a need for a comprehensive legal regime to prohibit misleading advertisement, although the laws are being enforced by different ministries. Mr Thomas informed that the widely accepted opinion is that both self-regulation and legal controls should work in synergy.

The Government will consider allowing more exports of sugar in the current marketing year. Talking to media persons on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi today, Food and Consumer Affairs minister K V Thomas said that the idea of allowing more exports of the sweetener will be considered in the coming Empowered Group of Ministers, EGoM, meeting.

Mr. Thomas said that since the production is good, the Government is not against allowing some more quantity of sugar exports. Production is expected to increase from 24.67 million tonnes to 25.5 million tonnes this year. The minister said as per the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, production of sugar next year is expected to be at the current year's level.