FEEDING THE NEEDY-AN "OUT OF THE BOX" THINKING

India is supposed to be the biggest provider of free foods to its needy children and vulnerable segments of the population funded by the government. It is estimated that India spends annually about Rs 27000 crore on various feeding programs across the country. Some of the schemes include integrated Child Development services (ICDS), Nutrition program for adolescent girls, Nutrition Advocacy and Awareness Generation Program, Follow up action for National Nutrition Policy of 1993, Nutrition programs of ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Iron-Folic Acid supplementation for Pregnant Women, Vitamin A Supplementation for Children of 9-36 months, National Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Program, Department of Elementary School and Literacy programs and Midday Meal for primary School Children. No wonder there are frequent criticisms regarding the effectiveness of these programs as multiple agencies are involved in administering different programs and an average citizen thinking that his money is being wasted.

While criticism of any efforts is welcome as long as they are constructive, the logistics of these operations are so gigantic that there can be slip ups and mishaps periodically. Most trenchant critics point out the pilferage of funds from these schemes through political-bureaucratic-contractors nexus about which governments at the center as well as at the State levels do not seem to be doing enough to make them more transparent. The net effect is that many deserving and needy beneficiaries do not get their entitlement. Probably by far the most visible nutrition program is the mammoth school feeding project benefiting millions of children, most of them being considered poor in economic terms.   

Government scheme that supports the mid day meal program costs about Rs 13,215 crore annually benefiting 12 crore children in 12.5 lakh schools across the country. According to some surveys one of the most desirable objectives of this scheme viz improving attendance in the primary schools has been well served resulting in progressive reduction in illiterate population in the country. Whether the nutrition status of the children also showed any significant improvement is a matter of debate. What is incongruous in this program is that it does not make any distinction between "haves" and "have nots" as the food is forced on every body irrespective of the income of their parents. Government is squarely responsible for this situation as it has not been able to generate and document the income profiles of families of children attending various schools. Naturally the resources are spread thin and impact is less than optimum. 

The eternal debate about the delivery systems most appropriate for the schools will never cease. There are strong protagonists advocating freshly cooked foods to made locally for feeding while many experts feel "ready to eat" (RTE) formulated food products in safe pilfer proof packs with long life are more suitable for mass feeding. Both sides have sufficient justification for their respective stands. It is not realized that no one solution can fit the exacting needs of this program. Probably a dual mode may be the alternative with those schools having sufficient staff, facilities and clean water provision going in for fresh cooking while schools in remote areas may have to adjust to RTE foods.

A honest citizen in this country may ask the question as to why public money must be spent on such programs with doubtful results. If the money is rightly used benefiting the most needy, no none would grudge such investments for a good future. Is there any alternative funding source that can be tapped? In this context what comes to mind is the socially relevant spending (CSR) being enforced for corporate bodies beginning April 1, 2014 under the Companies Act 2013, Section 135. Under this mandatory provision any industrial group or entrepreneur engaged in commercial activity with more than Rs 1000 crore annual turn over or Rs 500 crore net worth or profit of Rs 5 crore has to set aside 2% of its average profit during the previous 3 years for socially relevant activities. According to tentative estimates there are over 8000 companies which will have to shell out some thing like Rs 15-20 thousand crore each year. Probably this fund could be dedicated exclusively to improve the health of children below the age of 6 years as this is a critical stage of growth when brain development is completed and the future health status of these kids are decided. Lot of planning has to go into this suggestion for making it a workable plan with sufficient sustaining capacity.

A possible way out is entrusting this task to a industry supported body like FICCI or ASSOCHAM or any others managed by the industry to run all nutrition programs in stead of the governments doing it. All know that government machinery with its gargantuan machinery is like a slow moving Elephant and whatever it does is neither accountable nor time bound! Government personnel are mostly officious with no work culture while politicians who control them come and go with least commitment. A body like National Nutrition Food Corporation run with the CSR funds managed like a non-profit company with majority industry representatives and some government nominees can be mandated to run the program across the country. While core fundings will come from CSR contributions from the industry as per the Company Act 2013, liberal voluntary contributions from any quarters eligible for tax exemption can boost the resources available for the program.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PLATITUDES AND FULMINATIONS-WILL THEY STRENGTHEN FOOD INDUSTRY?

If seminars, workshops, conferences, meetings etc can trigger industrial development, India should have been a top industrialized nation long ago. Every stake holder in food industry development needs to take take brunt of the blame for the present condition of Indian food industry which is more or less monopolized by a few giants with very little elbow room available to the country's unorganized processing sector. During the last 6 decades India must have seen at least 20-25000 seminars and similar types of meetings and gatherings spending millions of rupees and wasting millions of man days. The result is pathetic to see. While Indian banks are flush with money, availability of the same to cottage scale and small scale industries is often constrained by the unwillingness of these financial institutions, most of the being part of Government of India, to take reasonable risks in advancing money to the them. Banks seem to be more enamored by the glitter and reputation of big players for whom money is readily available!

Recent public events organized by the apex business body in India, Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) under the banner  Food 360 Degrees, whatever it may mean, is an illuminating example of the mindset in India where holding such events is mistaken for real ground level action. While lot of pains are taken to organize such gatherings with exalted objectives, what is missing is the follow up action on what has been decided at these meetings. According to FICCI, the Food 360 Degree initiative it has taken, is intended to take food industry development to rural areas and interestingly the latest event was organized in Hyderabad, no rural area by any stretch of imagination! Interestingly FICCI claims that "a number of farmers and other stakeholders representing food processing industry" participated in the program though what benefits farmers can derive from such a gathering is not clear. FICCI wants to organize such events in a "toned down" version in 10-12 other places. At best these gatherings, invariably held in 5-star hotels, are nothing but social networking with very little impact on industrial development.

Who does the FICCI represent? How many small industries are part of its system? While there are specialized food industry organizations like All India Food Processors Association or others representing sectors like baked foods, flour mills, fish processing, meat processing etc what can FICCI contribute to the development of food industry? This is not to question the bonafides of this body in organizing such get-together but what needs to be realized is such exercises can have only limited impact at the ground level. Ideally there should be a holistic linkage between the unorganized and small industries and the big players to transfer knowledge and support marketing of products made by the former though it is doubtful whether such a thing will ever happen in India.

It is true that any food industry development in India must take into consideration the inescapable fact that the raw materials or the feed stock for processing industry are generated in the vast hinterland  of the country or the villages which happen to be living place for more than 70% of the country's population. The fact that the food needs of more than 350 million people residing in urbanized regions of the country like towns and cities are to be supplied from agricultural areas cannot be ignored. Naturally the food industry development has to take place in these rural hinterland and not in Hyderabad, Mumbai or Kolkatta. A body like FICCI has very limited role to play in such a scenario with major burden to be borne by governments in the states and at the Center.

Who must bear the responsibility for the gross negligence of rural areas while formulating the food industry development policy? As industry is supposed to be a state subject under the Indian constitution, the primary responsibility does fall on the states but it is also necessary that such developments must be coordinated under a national food industry policy. The Ministry of Food Processing Industry (MFPI) in Delhi is vested with the responsibility to help the states to promote food industry and this ministry has come up with a few funding schemes for disbursement to entrepreneurs or to existing industries to grow further, though how far these financial schemes have served the purpose is a debatable point. MFPI's initiative to set up the brand new food technology research cum management institute under the banner NIFTEM which was recently inaugurated is another issue that can be very controversial. If past experience is any indication NIFTEM also will go the way CFTRI has gone, if the cause for failure of the latter is not properly diagnosed.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD INDUSTRY WAKING UP TO HRD REALITIES-INDIAN DEVELOPMENT

The quality and quantity of manpower deployed by Indian food industry never received the attention it deserved so far which has resulted in lop-sided development of this vital sector. The exercise by the industry association in assessing this aspect vis-a-vis food industry is indeed timely. The manufacturing industry needs workers for low end operations for managing day to day production activity while qualified personnel are required for supervision and coordination. There are many teaching "shops" in the country with practically no facilities awarding "degrees" and according to FICCI these graduates are not found adequately "equipped" to manage their operations efficiently. It is a sad reflection on the food technology teaching system in the country which is caught in a time warp, not moving with time and ignorant of modern developments in the subject. The report is timely and highly relevant and AICTE or UGC or HRD Ministry or the MFPI must give due consideration to the suggestions made by the industry. Here is what the FICCI has to say on the subject.

According to news reports, FICCI "sought government intervention to set up a dedicated fund and a high level panel for faster development of the $181- billion food processing sector that is reeling under acute shortage of skilled manpower. The rising demand for specific skill sets and available supply has eroded the competitiveness of the sector, the survey based study of Ficci said. The study on Rising Skill Demand: A Major Challenge for Indian Food Industry, reveals that about 60 per cent of the 250 participant firms were not satisfied with their employees' current level of technical skills and knowledge. As the sector is projected to become a $285-billion industry by 2015, it would face further pressure on the manpower front, the study said, adding the sector would require 23 lakh production managers, engineers, quality controllers and R&D specialists. "Meeting this demand would be challenging, since 80 per cent of the total work force in the food processing sector comprises people having lower-end skill set," it said. Due to lucrative job opportunities in other sectors, there was scarcity of production managers and engineers in this sector, which needs to be addressed, said the study".

In the survey conducted by FICCI,"Respondents felt that the courses offered by various institutions are outdated and it was imperative to review the course curriculum to match industry expectations. "The government should immediately formulate a task force of all the stakeholders...to get the course curriculum across all institutions and training institutes reviewed and updated," it said. The chamber also felt there was a need for immediate adoption of ITI's by the food processing industry in various clusters to upgrade the lower-end skills. Besides, the government should allocate separate budget for human resource development for the sector for enhancing and upgrading skills, it said. The food processing industry should partner with food technology/processing institutes on a pilot basis for up gradation of higher-end skills, it suggested".

Food industry is different from other sectors because of the high priority accorded to safety of the products they make and their influence on the consumer health. The suggestion to integrate the ITI schools with production clusters is eminently practical. The biggest hindrance in improving the quality of personnel is the grossly inadequate training infrastructure available at almost all institutions and even in a few case where there are some minimal facilities these are invariably outdated and obsolete. How can any one expect products from such moribund training institutions to be able to work in industry about which they have no prior clue. Hundreds of ITIs presently working in the country must be asked to add certification courses specialized in food processing and such trained personnel will meet the needs of the industry for floor level operations.

Probably MFPI of GOI must undertake a fast exercise to estimate the HR needs of food industry from qualitative as well as quantitative perspectives and a massive infusion of funds is absolutely necessary to upgrade the training infrastructure by setting up small scale multi-operation machinery for hands on experience. Involvement of industry will be useful and since FICCI has raised this issue, this is the ripe time to strike a deal with them to offer training avenues for graduates in their processing facilities. The course content must be drastically altered and completion of graduation must be linked to a minimum apprenticeship of 6 months to 1 year in an active industry for inculcating the industry culture. Active steps also are called for upgrading the skills and knowledge base of the teaching community that will shape future food technologists.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com