Mar 30, 2020
Ministry of Food Processing Industry (MoFPI) has set up a Grievance Redressal Cell to ensure that problems faced by food processors during the COVID-19 lockdown are resolved without any delay. Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that industry associates facing any problems in operations, management and distribution of food products could send their queries to covidgrievance-mofpi@gov.in.
Pushpa Subrahmanyam, secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), forwarded a letter to the chief secretaries of all states and UTs regarding need for uninterrupted functioning of food industry and their suppliers.
The letter includes a list of essential food products and their inputs. She also stated that uninterrupted manufacturing of these food products is critical for maintaining supply chain and availability of food to the teeming population.
Subrahmanyam added that the availability of raw materials, packaging materials, and logistics with movement of trucks and lorries transporting the cargo, operational functions of their godowns and warehouses and cold storages and ability of workers to come and work in the factories needs to be ensured for maintaining food supply chain for entire population.
She also requested the chief secretaries to instruct district collectors, police and transport officials to enable continued functioning of food products factories, movement of their products and inputs/raw materials and allowing workers to attend the mills and factories.
Subrahmanyam also urged the chiefs to appoint a nodal officer at the state level with whom MoFPI and the industry will stay in touch for supply chain if in case of interruptions for effective resolution on the spot.
List of some of suggested food products and services enclosed in the letter includes: