Maharashtra: Shinde calls for separate law in state against milk adulteration

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has highlighted the need for a separate law in the state to curb adulteration of milk and dairy products and said the state government will request the Centre to make food adulteration a non-bailable offence.

According to the PTI report, Shinde was speaking at a meeting on Thursday evening to review the quality of primary school education in the state and the adulteration of milk and milk products.

According to the statement released by the state government, he said a separate law more stringent than the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders and Dangerous Persons Act (MPDA) is required to be implemented in the state.

As per the release, Shinde asked the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and dairy development departments to start joint operations against adulteration of milk "as it is desperately needed", assuring that the home department will cooperate with them, reported PTI.

Even the milk-producing farmers suffer due to adulteration, he said.

According to the news agency report, Shinde called food adulteration a serious offence and said it adversely affects children. The CM noted that the future generation will be at a loss and many people will fall into the clutches of killer diseases like cancer due to food adulteration.

Hence, action against those behind food adulteration should be stricter than what is provided under MPDA, he added.

According to the PTI report, Shinde said the state will also request the Centre to make food adulteration a non-bailable offence.

He directed the dairy development department to initiate steps for making a separate law for milk adulteration in the state, it added, according to PTI.

Onion banks to start, to give relief to cultivators

The Maharashtra government will start onion banks in several places to provide relief to farmers cultivating the perishable kitchen staple, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Thursday.

Chairing a review meeting of the project, the CM said storage of onions will be done using solar energy, which will allow farmers to wait till they get good prices for the crop.

The project will start in Rahuri in Ahmednagar, while facilities will come up immediately in Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Solapur, where onion production is high, the CM said.

"The onion bank will start through Hindustan Agro. The premises of the state-run Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation will be used for this purpose.

Onions banks are also proposed at 10 places along the Samruddhi Expressway," the CM said. Shinde also directed authorities to develop a value chain in the onion bank area, keeping in mind the interests of farmers.

(With inputs from PTI)