Sugar content in packaged baby foods, safeguarding consumer rights in the banking sector, and rising prices of medicines are some of the issues that have come under the scanner of the Parliamentary panels.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, chaired by DMK leader Kanimozhi, has decided to examine issues such as ensuring the availability of essential commodities with a specific reference to petroleum and petroleum products and control measures to curb wastage of food grains in FCI godowns.
The Parliamentary Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers, chaired by Trinamool Congress leader Kirti Azad, has decided to examine issues such as the price rise of medicines, self-sufficiency in production and availability of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), and the performance of regulatory authorities for stringent control of spurious and fake medicines.
The committee will also examine the issue of setting up plastic waste management centers and steps taken to minimize the use of plastic in the country and the disinvestment of fertilizer PSUs.
The Committee on Consumer Affairs will examine the subject of regulation of packed commodities with a specific reference to sugar content in baby products and other food products.
The committee has also decided to examine subjects such as the storage of food grains: existing infrastructure and future strategy; transportation of food grains: optimizing movement through railways and modernization of the Public Distribution System.
It will also examine ethanol and biofuel production from sugar, sugarcane, and grains, safeguarding consumer rights in the banking sector; the role of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in upholding quality and standards, and expanding the role of the National Test House (NTH) in testing and calibration of products.
