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Dear Reader,
The issue of the packaged-food industry’s penchant for pushing foods high in fat, salt or sugar and low in fibre and other micronutrients has been a long and vexed one. Regulators the world over have tried to minimise the health risks by instituting clear guidelines for labelling on packages to ensure that buyers are aware of the nature and potential risk of what they consume.
However, the Indian story has been shockingly different. A Down To Earth investigation reveals that seven years, four committees and two draft regulations later, not only has the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) not instituted the Front-of-Pack (FoP) labelling but for extraneous reasons has also progressively diluted the existing provisions to an extent that they are now virtually ineffectual.
As India reaches new milestones in its Covid vaccination campaign, it confronts the challenge of extending it to the hinterland, the rural areas. The Wire delves deep into the issues with Anurag Behar, who outlines the challenge of connectivity, generating data, and its inadequacy in facilitating last-mile access to citizens in far-flung areas, especially those who have already taken the first dose.
EPW analyses the 77th round of the National Sample Survey report on agriculture and rural households, which reveals that fragmented landholdings and slow growth of income from crop and animal farming have forced an increasing number of agricultural households to take up wage labour to sustain their livelihoods.
The News Minute reports from Telangana, and The Caravan from Bihar, on the plight of families of manual scavengers who died due to the unsafe conditions of their work. Many years on, the kin of the deceased are yet to receive compensation.
And, as Punjab gets its first Dalit Chief Minister in its history, The Print looks at the social and political significance of the move in the milieu of the existing caste system in the state, especially the perceived resurgence of the Dalit community.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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