The Ministry of Food Processing Industries is striving to boost the food processing sector by implementing measures that would prevent duplication of functions among certain divisions under the Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Rural Development  

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is planning to undertake some measures to eradicate the problems that arise due to duplication of functions among certain divisions under the Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Rural Development. However, a poll conducted by FoodProcessing360 shows that 67% respondents do not feel that MoFPI will be able to minimise the duplication of functions by implementing these measures, while only 33% agreed that MoFPI will be successful.

Plans of MoFPI

MoFPI has pointed out that the growth of the food processing segment is stunted due to duplication of functions. “It has been noted that different ministries are performing similar functions simultaneously. This leads to confusion and prohibits the food processing sector from scaling further heights in the global market,” says Dinesh Chauhan, executive manager of Green Agro Ltd, a mid-sized agro products manufacturer in Pune. However, it may be difficult to specify the functions of each ministry as they are closely connected with each other.  

In order to function in an organised manner, MoFPI intends to create a central database that will help to consolidate information on various projects and development work undertaken by the different ministries. This will help the ministries to work in close coordination with each other, which will prevent overlapping of their functions. This will also ensure smooth execution of projects that are not undertaken by any particular ministry, as in that case it can be taken up by another ministry. “However, this method would be effective only if the database is continuously updated. Only then will it be useful to the ministries that look for information about the latest projects as well as functions that are being executed,” says Anil Rawal, director of Amrit Ltd, a small-sized agro product exporter in Jaipur.

Given the ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ pertaining to the effectiveness of the measures that MoFPI intends to implement in order to avoid duplication of functions, it is no surprise that most respondents to the aforementioned poll have doubts over its success.

Sabrina Mitchell