Parliamentary panels to tackle essential commodities, pharmaceuticals, sugar content in packaged foo
New Delhi: Two key Parliamentary Standing Committees, led by prominent opposition leaders, have outlined their agendas to address pressing national concerns, including the availability of essential commodities, foodgrain management, and the regulation of pharmaceuticals.
The Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, chaired by DMK leader Kanimozhi, will focus on ensuring the availability of essential commodities, particularly petroleum products. The panel will also address issues surrounding foodgrain storage, including strategies to prevent wastage in FCI godowns, and explore ways to optimize foodgrain transportation via railways while modernizing the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Additionally, the committee will examine the regulation of packed commodities, with specific attention to sugar content in baby and other food products. Ethanol and biofuel production from sugar, sugarcane, and grains will also be reviewed, along with safeguarding consumer rights in the banking sector. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the National Test House (NTH) will come under scrutiny to assess their roles in quality assurance and product testing.
Meanwhile, the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers, chaired by Trinamool Congress leader Kirti Azad, will investigate the rising prices of medicines and India’s progress toward self-sufficiency in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). The panel will evaluate the performance of regulatory authorities to curb the circulation of fake and spurious medicines.
The committee will also explore efforts to reduce plastic usage by reviewing the setup of plastic waste management centres. Additionally, it will assess the disinvestment of public sector fertilizer companies and explore ways to enhance sustainability in the sector.
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Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
