Govt to appease SJM, lift ban on non-iodised salt

“We want the people to buy salt by consensus and not compulsion”, Union Health Minister C.P. Thakur told The Indian Express on Saturday,referring to Kerala where the state government has been taking most decisions as per people’s wishes.

Interestingly, the Congress was not in favour of lifting of the ban. Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister about a month ago, demanding free availability of iodised salt.

Thakur said that the Government’s priority was to make iodised salt available to everyone but the choice of having iodised or non-iodised salt shall however, rest with the people. “We don’t want to thrust our decision on them”, he said.

The SJM has been protesting against the ban, saying that people are forced to buy expensive iodised salt even in areas which do not experience iodine deficiency.

The Health Minister claimed the Government was committed to supplying all kind of salts to the people — non-branded iodised salt, branded iodised salt and even non-iodised salt (if a consensus could be built on that). He would soon convene a meeting of Health Ministers of various states to develop a consensus. “In case there is no consensus, we will have discussion within our department before going to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Union Cabinet”, Thakur said.