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  • Freedom of Speech – Defamation, Sedition, etc.

    On Section 124A Supreme Court has aligned itself with the collective conscience

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary,Parliament & State Legislatures

    Context

    The Supreme Court’s seminal intervention in a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of section 124A of the Indian Penal Code is a watershed moment in the progressive expansion of human rights jurisprudence.

    Abuse of sedition law

    • The slapping of sedition charges against political opponents and others in Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have confirmed that the abuse of the sedition law is no longer an aberration.
    • It has become a norm that has hollowed out the constitutional guarantee of fundamental rights and exposed individuals to the rigour of draconian laws unjustly invoked, outraging national sensitivities as never before.

    Significance of the move

    • In what is seen as a first in judicial history, the Supreme Court has virtually rendered redundant the provision of a criminal law without expressly declaring it as unconstitutional.
    • In an example of judicial statecraft, the court has shielded individuals against a harsh law without trenching on Parliament’s legislative remit or the executive’s command over policy decisions.
    • Plenary jurisdiction: Exercising plenary jurisdiction, the Supreme Court is expected to see through its suggestions/orders to the government, particularly when these concern the non-negotiable fundamental rights of citizens.
    • Suggestive jurisdiction: As an organ of the state, the Supreme Court’s suggestive jurisdiction is clearly in accord with its declared law (Nagaraj, 2006) that the state (of which the court is an integral constituent), is under a duty not only to protect individual rights but is also obliged to facilitate the same.
    • Validating the nations role: The court-inspired initiatives would also validate the nation’s preeminent role in the shaping of a new world order.

    Implications of the law

    • Nudging the government towards anti-lynching law: As with the sedition law, it can nudge the government to enact an anti-lynching humanitarian law as suggested by it and a comprehensive law against custodial torture.
    •  Law against custodial torture: The absence of an anti-custodial torture law, a glaring gap in the architecture of the criminal justice system, is inexplicable considering the command of Article 21, recommendations of the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha (2010), the Law Commission of India (2017) and the Human Rights Commission and the judgments of the Supreme Court (Puttaswamy, 2017; Jeeja Ghosh, 2016; and Shabnam, 2015).
    • Implications for the UAPA: It is expected likewise from the court to intervene suitably and read down the UAPA and other criminal laws that have been repeatedly misused to trample upon the civil liberties and rights of the people.

    Conclusion

    This is indeed the moment to seize, as the government reviews the nation’s legal structures. The initiatives suggested above are in aid of democracy anchored in the inviolability of human rights and would enhance India’s soft power in our engagement with the international community.

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  • AYUSH – Indian Medicine System

    Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    What is issue:

    A senior parliamentarian has expressed concern over the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which is in the final stages of consultations in the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

    Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002: 

    • The BDA, 2002 was enacted for the conservation of biological diversity and fair, equitable sharing of the monetary benefits from the commercial use of biological resources and traditional knowledge.
    • The main intent of this legislation is to protect India’s rich biodiversity and associated knowledge against their use by foreign individuals.
    • It seeks to check biopiracy, protect biological diversity and local growers through a three-tier structure of central and state boards and local committees.
    • The Act provides for setting up of a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in local bodies.
    • The NBA will enjoy the power of a civil court.

    What are the proposed Amendments?

    The amendment bill seeks to reduce the pressure on wild medicinal plants by encouraging the cultivation of medicinal plants and Decriminalizes certain offences.

    • Biological resources sharing: Exempts Ayush practitioners from intimating biodiversity boards for accessing biological resources or knowledge (Vaids and Hakims)
    • Research promotion: Facilitates fast-tracking of research, simplify the patent application process
    • Bring in foreign investment: Seeks to bring more foreign investments in biological resources, research, patent and commercial utilisation, without compromising the national interest

    Need for the Amendment

    • Simplifying process: Concerns were raised by Ayush medicine, seed, industry and research sectors urging the government to simplify, streamline the profession.
    • Easing compliance: They urged govt to reduce the compliance burden to provide for a conducive environment for collaborative research and investments.
    • Access and Benefit-sharing: It also sought to simplify the patent application process, widen the scope of access and benefit-sharing with local communities.
    • Exemptions: Ayush practitioners have been exempted from the ambit of the Act, a huge move because the Ayush industry benefits greatly from biological resources in India.
    • Certain offences: Violations of the law related to benefit-sharing with communities, which are currently treated as criminal offences and are non-bailable, have been proposed to be made civil offences.
    • Imbibing Nagoya Protocol: This bill provides to reconcile the domestic law with free prior informed consent requirements of the 2010 Nayogya Protocol on ABS.

    Criticisms of the bill

    • No consultation: The bill has been introduced without seeking public comments as required under the pre-legislative consultative policy.
    • No profit-sharing: There are ambiguous provisions in the proposed amendment to protect, conserve or increase the stake of local communities in the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity.
    • Commercialization: Activists say that the amendments were done to “solely benefit” the AYUSH Ministry.
    • Loopholes to Biopiracy: The Bill would mean AYUSH manufacturing companies would no longer need to take approvals.
    • Ignoring Bio-utilization: The bill has excluded the term Bio-utilization which is an important element in the Act.  Leaving out bio utilization would leave out an array of activities like characterization, incentivisation and bioassay which are undertaken with commercial motive.
    • Exotic plants cultivation: The bill also exempts cultivated medicinal plants from the purview of the Act but it is practically impossible to detect which plants are cultivated and which are from the wild.
    • De-licensing: This provision could allow large companies to evade the requirement for prior approval or share the benefit with local communities.

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  • Industrial Sector Updates – Industrial Policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

    India’s Total Factor Productivity (TFP)

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    India’s total factor productivity (TFP) growth has seen a moderate decline compared to the global experience, though it remains above that of emerging markets and developing economies, according to a recent report.

    What is Total factor productivity (TFP)?

    • Productivity levels measure the relationship between total products or output, and inputs or factors of production employed.
    • Labour productivity is a measure of total output divided by the units of labour employed in the process of production.
    • However, TFP is a measure of total output divided by a weighted average of inputs; i.e., labour and capital.
    • Improvements in TFP bring down production costs, raise output levels, and lead to a higher gross domestic product.
    • While total productivity measures all-inclusive productivity, TFP is a measure of production efficiency.

    How has India fared thus far?

    • A recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report points to a moderate decline in TFP growth compared to the global experience.
    • TFP growth rate for India during the 2010-2019 period was approximately 2.2%, as against -0.3% for emerging markets and developing economies.
    • During the pandemic, the TFP for India declined by 2.9% in 2020 and marginally improved by 0.1% in 2021.
    • In 2022, TFP growth rate is projected to increase to 2%.
    • As per estimates, TFP growth contributed to 30% of India’s GDP growth during 2010-2018.
    • It was largely driven by public administration, quality education and social works.

    What has been the TFP trend across the world?

    • Global productivity growth has witnessed a prolonged slowdown since 2010, with the deceleration sharper in emerging and developing economies.
    • This is ascribed to a weakening investment climate, and lower employment growth levels in developed economies, among others.
    • TFP growth for the world economy was 0.7% in 2021 and may shrink by 0.5% in 2022.

    What are the ways to improve TFP?

    • India’s initiatives around skill development and the new education policy are steps in the right direction, since they focus on boosting manpower employability.
    • Quality education, better healthcare, nurturing of innovation, introduction of efficient technology and processes in domestic companies and reduction in misallocation of resources can help improve TFP levels.
    • Though the country’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index, 2021 has improved to 46, it still has some distance to go.

    How can the industry improve productivity?

    • Improved TFP minimizes per-unit cost facilitating the horizontal expansion of consumption demand, thereby improving the standard of living.
    • Employers have fortunately started acknowledging the fact that manpower is an essential component in profit earnings.
    • Today, the focus has shifted to retaining talent, which is limited in supply.
    • This positive transformation seen after the pandemic needs to be further extended.

     

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  • Forest Conservation Efforts – NFP, Western Ghats, etc.

    Highlights of the Seoul Forest Declaration

    IOCR | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    The participants from 141 countries gathered in person and online at the 15th World Forestry Congress in Seoul, Republic of Korea adopted the Seoul Forest Declaration.

    Seoul Forest Declaration

    • Shared responsibility: The Declaration urges that responsibility for forests should be shared and integrated across institutions, sectors and stakeholders.
    • Increased investment: Investment in forest and landscape restoration globally needs to triple by 2030 to meet internationally agreed commitments and targets on restoring degraded land.
    • Moving towards circular economy: One of the key takeaways was the importance of moving towards a circular bioeconomy and climate neutrality.
    • Innovative green financing mechanisms: To upscale investment in forest conservation, restoration and sustainable use, and highlighted the potential of sustainably produced wood as a renewable, recyclable and versatile material.
    • Decision-making: It urged the continued development and use of emerging innovative technologies and mechanisms to enable evidence-based forest and landscape decision-making.

    Other takeaways

    • Close cooperation among nations is needed to address challenges that transcend political boundaries.
    • This was strengthened at the Congress by the launch of new partnerships such as the:
    1. Assuring the Future of Forests with Integrated Risk Management (AFFIRM) Mechanism and
    2. Sustaining an Abundance of Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Initiative

    Back2Basics: World Forestry Congress

    • The first World Forestry Congress first held in Rome in 1926. After that, it is held about every six years by the UN-FAO.
    • In 1954, FAO was entrusted with supporting Congress preparations in close cooperation with the host country and proudly continues to do so today. .
    • It has been providing a forum for inclusive discussion on the key challenges and way forward for the forestry sector.

     

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    What are Urban Heat Islands?

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Several parts of the country are reeling under heat wave conditions. Cities, especially, are a lot hotter than rural areas. This is due to a phenomenon called an “urban heat island”.

    Urban Heat Island

    • An urban heat island is a local and temporary phenomenon experienced when certain pockets within a city experience higher heat load than surrounding or neighbouring areas on the same day.
    • The variations are mainly due to heat remaining trapped within locations that often resemble concrete jungles.
    • The temperature variation can range between 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.

    Why are cities hotter than rural areas?

    • Green cover: Rural areas have relatively larger green cover in the form of plantations, farmlands, forests and trees as compared to urban spaces.
    • Transpiration: Transpiration is a natural way of heat regulation. This is the scientific process of roots absorbing water from the soil, storing it in the leaves and stems of plants, before processing it and releasing it in the form of water vapour.
    • Heat-regulation: Urban areas are often developed with high-rise buildings, roads, parking spaces, pavements and transit routes for public transport. As a result, heat regulation is either completely absent or man-made.
    • Construction: Cities usually have buildings constructed with glass, bricks, cement and concrete all of which are dark-coloured materials, meaning they attract and absorb higher heat content.

    This forms temporary islands within cities where the heat remains trapped.

    How can urban heat islands be reduced?

    • The main way to cut heat load within urban areas is increasing the green cover; filling open spaces with trees and plants.
    • Other ways of heat mitigation include appropriate choice of construction materials, promoting terrace and kitchen gardens, and painting white or light colours on terraces wherever possible to reflect heat.

    What has NASA said on urban heat islands in India?

    • NASA recently pointed out heat islands in urban parts of Delhi, where temperatures were far higher than nearby agricultural lands.
    • It used its Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment (Ecostress) on the International Space Station.

     

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  • Historical and Archaeological Findings in News

    Buddhist heritage in Gujarat

    Prelims Only | History | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

    Prime Minister in Lumbini, on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, said that his birthplace Vadnagar in Gujarat’s Mehsana district had been a great centre for Buddhist learning centuries ago.

    Vadnagar’s ties with Buddhism

    • In 2014, the excavation work has brought up Buddhist relics and around 20,000 artefacts, some dating back to the 2nd century.
    • Among these are an elliptical structure and a circular stupa along with a square memorial stupa of 2×2 metres and 130 centimetres in height with a wall enclosure.
    • It is like a platform which has a chamber in the centre that resembles a pradakshina path.
    • Further, bowls said to be used by monks have been found during the excavations, which have a terracotta sealing with inscriptions of namassarvagyaya and a face-shaped pendant with tritatva symbol.
    • Sacred relics of the Buddha were even found in Devni Mori in Aravalli district of Gujarat.

    In travellers record

    • Vadnagar is mentioned often in the Puranas and even in the travelogue of the great Chinese traveler, Hiuen Tsang (7th century), as a rich and flourishing town.
    • He is believed to have visited the state in 641 AD.
    • It adds how some of the names attributed to Vadnagar in history are Chamatkarpur, Anandpur, Snehpur and Vimalpur.
    • It also had snippets about other Buddhist heritage sites in Gujarat, such as Junagadh, Kutch and Bharuch.

    Back2Basics: Places associated with Buddha

    These are three of the few holiest sites in Buddhism:

    1. Bodh Gaya in Bihar, the site of the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha under a tree and top site in the list of world heritage sites in India.
    2. Kesaria stupa is a Buddhist stupa in Kesariya, located at a distance of 110 kilometres (68 mi) from Patna, in the Champaran (east) district of Bihar, India. The first construction of the Stupa is dated to the 3rd century BCE. Kesariya Stupa has a circumference of almost 400 feet (120 m) and raises to a height of about 104 feet (32 m).
    3. Nalanda was a renowned Buddhist University in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) in India.Buddhist texts describe it as a Mahavihara, a revered Buddhist monastery.
    4. Sarnath near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the site of the first sermon (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), where Buddha taught about the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path.
    5. Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, the site of the Buddha’s parinirvana and home of many famous meditation & prayer offering sites in India.

     

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Public health engineering

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Context

    As we confront the public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.

    Why does India need a specialised cadre of public health engineers

    • Achieving SDGs and growing demand for water consumption: For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
    •  It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
    • Limited capacity: The availability of systemic information and programmes focusing on teaching, training, and capacity building for this specialty cadre is currently limited.
    • Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
    • However, the nexus between wastewater and solid waste management and public health issues is not brought out clearly.
    • India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
    • The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
    • Different from the international trend: In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials. This differs from international trends.

    Way forward

    • Introducing public health engineering as a two-year structured master’s degree programme or through diploma programmes for professionals working in this field must be considered to meet the need of increased human resource in this field.
    • Interdisciplinary field: Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field.
    • Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
    • Public health engineering’s combination of engineering and public health skills can also enable contextualised decision-making regarding water management in India.

    Conclusion

    Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this. Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-SAARC Nations

    For a better South Asian neighbourhood

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Context

    Recent developments — in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan — underline the geographic imperative that binds India to its neighbours in the Subcontinent.

    Need for intensive regional cooperation for managing the new dangers

    • Working with the logic of geography has become an unavoidable necessity amidst the deepening regional and global crises accentuated by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
    • As higher oil and food prices trigger inflation and popular unrest across the region, more intensive regional cooperation is one of the tools for managing the new dangers.

    Hope for transcending internal divide between India and Sri Lanka

    • India’s relations with Sri Lanka underline the importance of continuous tending of political geography.
    • Tradition of hosting political exile: India has had a long tradition of hosting political exiles from the region.
    • Whether it was the Dalai Lama from Tibet or Prachanda from Nepal, Delhi has welcomed leaders from the neighbourhood taking shelter in India.
    • Negative consequences: There is a dangerous flip side to this positive tradition in the Subcontinent.
    • India has paid a high price for the decision in the early 1980s to train and arm Sri Lankan Tamil rebels.
    • Hope for transcending internal divide: The current crisis in Sri Lanka raised hopes for transcending the internal ethnic divide in the island nation and rebuilding political confidence between Colombo and Delhi.
    • Material and financial support to Sri Lanka: Delhi’s unstinting support — both material and financial — for Colombo during this unprecedented economic and political crisis has generated much goodwill in Sri Lanka.

    Relations with Nepal and role of cultural ties

    • Possibilities in cultural geography: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha in Nepal, highlights the immense possibilities of cultural geography in reshaping the Subcontinent’s regional relations.
    • The idea of a “Buddhist circuit” connecting the various pilgrimage sites across the India-Nepal border has been around for a long time.
    • India and Nepal have come together in developing the Buddhist circuit.
    • Religion and culture are deeply interconnected in South Asia.
    • Developing all religious pilgrimage sites across the region, and improving the transborder access to them could not only improve tourist revenues of all the South Asian nations, but could also have a calming effect on the troubled political relations
    • That China has built a new airport near Lumbini and Modi is avoiding it points to the turbulent triangular dynamic between Delhi, Kathmandu, and Beijing.
    • Revitalising the shared cultural geography inevitably involves better management of economic geography.
    • Infrastructure development on Indian side: The last few years have seen the Indian government step up on infrastructure development on the Indian side and accelerate transborder transport and energy connectivity in the eastern subcontinent.

    Recent trends in India-Pakistan relations

    • Cultural ties: Despite their frozen bilateral political relationship, Delhi and Islamabad had agreed to open the Kartarpur corridor at the end of 2019 across their militarised Punjab border.
    • There is much more to be done on reconnecting the Subcontinent’s sacred geographies — including the Ramayana trail and Sufi shrines.
    • While parts of the region are aligning their policies with the geographic imperative, Pakistan would seem to be an exception.
    • Ignoring the geographic imperative: Given the depth of its macro economic crisis and massive inflation, one might have thought Pakistan would want to expand trade ties with India in its own economic interest.
    • But Pakistan’s politics are hard-wired against the logic of geography.
    • Delhi had little reason to believe that Pakistan’s new government can alter its self-defeating policy towards India.
    • But it must continue to bet that the geographic imperative will eventually prevail over Islamabad’s policies.

    Conclusion

    Realists might want to argue that current trends in the Subcontinent point to India’s growing agency in shaping its neighbourhood and that Pakistan will not forever remain an exception. For Delhi, the policy question is whether India can do something to hasten the inevitable change in Pakistan.

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  • Minority Issues – SC, ST, Dalits, OBC, Reservations, etc.

    What is the Places of Worship Act?

    | Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Communalism, Secularism, Regionalism

    The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the order of a civil court in Varanasi directing a videographic survey of a temple- mosque complex upholding the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

    What is the Places of Worship Act?

    • The long title describes it as an Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship.
    • It holds places of worships as it existed on the 15th day of August, 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

    When was this law passed?

    • The Act was brought in 1991 by the then pseudo-secular government at a time when the Ram temple movement was at its peak.
    • Then, communal tensions in India were at peak.
    • Parliament determined that independence from colonial rule furnishes a constitutional basis for healing the injustices of the past.
    • It sought to provide the confidence to every religious community that their places of worship will be preserved and that their character will not be altered.

    What are its provisions?

    • Anti-conversion: Section 3 of the Act bars the conversion, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination — or even a different segment of the same religious denomination.
    • Holiness of a place: Section 4(1) declares that the religious character of a place of worship “shall continue to be the same as it existed” on August 15, 1947.
    • Litigation: Section 4(2) says any suit or legal proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place existing on August 15, 1947, pending before any court, shall abate — and no fresh suit or legal proceedings shall be instituted.
    • Exception for Ayodhya: Section 5 stipulates that the Act shall not apply to the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, and to any suit, appeal or proceeding relating to it.

    Issues with the law

    • The law has been challenged on the ground that it bars judicial review, which is a basic feature of the Constitution.
    • It imposes an “arbitrary irrational retrospective cutoff date”, and abridges the right to religion of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs.

    What is the recent controversy?

    • The temple-mosque complex in Varanasi clearly shows that the mosque stands over a rundown temple.
    • Videography shows the presence of Hindu deities inside the mosque.
    • Right-wing propagandists highlight the intention of Aurangzeb behind leaving remnants of the temple to keep reminding communities of their historical fate and to remind coming generations of rulers of their past glory and power.

    What did the Supreme Court say in its Ayodhya judgment?

    • The constitutional validity of the 1991 Act was not under challenge, nor had it been examined before the Supreme Court Bench that heard the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit.
    • The Places of Worship Act imposes a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing our commitment to secularism under the Indian Constitution.
    • The law is hence a legislative instrument designed to protect the secular features of the Indian polity, which is one of the basic features of the Constitution.
    • The Places of Worship Act is a legislative intervention which preserves non-retrogression as an essential feature of our secular values.

     

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  • Food Processing Industry: Issues and Developments

    Report flags Risk of Fortified Rice

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    A report has flagged issues due to threats posed to anaemic persons over iron over-nutrition created by rice fortification.

    Highlights of the report

    • No prior education: The activists discovered that neither field functionaries nor beneficiaries had been educated about the potential harms.
    • No warnings issued: There were no warning labels despite the food regulator’s rules on fortified foods.
    • No informed choice: The right to informed choices about one’s food is a basic right. In the case of rice fortification, it is seen that no prior informed consent was ever sought from the recipients.

    What are the risks highlighted?

    • Thalassemia, sickle cell anaemia and malaria are conditions where there is already excess iron in the body, whereas TB patients are unable to absorb iron.
    • Consumption of iron-fortified foods among patients of these diseases can reduce immunity and functionality of organs.

    Endemic zones identified

    • Jharkhand is an endemic zone of sickle cell disorder and thalassemia, with a prevalence of 8%-10%, which is twice the national average.
    • Jharkhand is also an endemic zone for malaria — in 2020, the State ranked third in the country in malaria deaths.

    What is Fortification?

    • The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has explicitly defined fortification.
    • It involves deliberate increasing of the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health.

    Types of food fortification

    Food fortification can also be categorized according to the stage of addition:

    1. Commercial and industrial fortification (wheat flour, cornmeal, cooking oils)
    2. Biofortification (breeding crops to increase their nutritional value, which can include both conventional selective breeding, and genetic engineering)
    3. Home fortification (example: vitamin D drops)

    How is fortification done for rice?

    • Various technologies are available to add micronutrients to regular rice, such as coating, dusting, and ‘extrusion’.
    • The last mentioned involves the production of fortified rice kernels (FRKs) from a mixture using an ‘extruder’ machine.
    • It is considered to be the best technology for India.
    • The fortified rice kernels are blended with regular rice to produce fortified rice.

    How does the extrusion technology to produce FRK work?

    • Dry rice flour is mixed with a premix of micronutrients, and water is added to this mixture.
    • The mixture is passed through a twin-screw extruder with heating zones, which produces kernels similar in shape and size to rice.
    • These kernels are dried, cooled, and packaged for use. FRK has a shelf life of at least 12 months.
    • As per guidelines issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the shape and size of the fortified rice kernel should “resemble the normal milled rice as closely as possible”.
    • According to the guidelines, the length and breadth of the grain should be 5 mm and 2.2 mm respectively.

    But why does rice have to be fortified in the first place?

    • India has very high levels of malnutrition among women and children.
    • According to the Food Ministry, every second woman in the country is anaemic and every third child is stunted.
    • Fortification of food is considered to be one of the most suitable methods to combat malnutrition.
    • Rice is one of India’s staple foods, consumed by about two-thirds of the population. Per capita rice consumption in India is 6.8 kg per month.
    • Therefore, fortifying rice with micronutrients is an option to supplement the diet of the poor.

    What are the standards for fortification?

    • Under the Ministry’s guidelines, 10 g of FRK must be blended with 1 kg of regular rice.
    • According to FSSAI norms, 1 kg of fortified rice will contain the following: iron (28 mg-42.5 mg), folic acid (75-125 microgram), and vitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 microgram).
    • Rice may also be fortified with zinc (10 mg-15 mg), vitamin A (500-750 microgram RE), vitamin B-1 (1 mg-1.5 mg), vitamin B-2 (1.25 mg-1.75 mg), vitamin B-3 (12.5 mg-20 mg) and vitamin B-6 (1.5 mg-2.5 mg) per kg.

    How can a beneficiary distinguish between fortified rice and regular rice?

    • Fortified rice will be packed in jute bags with the logo (‘+F’) and the line “Fortified with Iron, Folic Acid, and Vitamin B12”.

    Advantages offered

    • Health: Fortified staple foods will contain natural or near-natural levels of micro-nutrients, which may not necessarily be the case with supplements.
    • Taste: It provides nutrition without any change in the characteristics of food or the course of our meals.
    • Nutrition: If consumed on a regular and frequent basis, fortified foods will maintain body stores of nutrients more efficiently and more effectively than will intermittently supplement.
    • Economy: The overall costs of fortification are extremely low; the price increase is approximately 1 to 2 percent of the total food value.
    • Society: It upholds everyone’s right to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger

    Issues with fortified food

    • Against nature: Fortification and enrichment upset nature’s packaging. Our body does not absorb individual nutrients added to processed foods as efficiently compared to nutrients naturally occurring.
    • Bioavailability: Supplements added to foods are less bioavailable. Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a nutrient your body is able to absorb and use.
    • Immunity issues: They lack immune-boosting substances.
    • Over-nutrition: Fortified foods and supplements can pose specific risks for people who are taking prescription medications, including decreased absorption of other micro-nutrients, treatment failure, and increased mortality risk.

     

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