At a time when the government is in the dock for imposing bans on several items including an instant noodles and porn, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that he is personally not in favour of imposing bans when there are conflicting opinions. "I've never been enthusiastic about bans, particularly when conflicting opinions are there," he said.
He gave the statement while speaking on the controversy over the ban on Maggi noodles. Refusing to add more, he said that the matter is in court. "Public health considerations have always had to be balanced and blended with the requirements of the economy. The authorities have taken a view, the matter is in court and therefore it would be inappropriate for me to make a comment on that specific matter," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also intervened in the Maggi row and has advised the Consumer Affairs Ministry to maintain decorum on the same till all facts come to light as the government does not want to hurt investment flow.
"The Prime Minister had said whatever people say, we should maintain decorum on this issue (Maggi). Until we get the fact findings done, there is no need to create unnecessary noise," Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.
Paswan said there is a "media trial" going on in the Maggi row. He also spoke about certain labs finding Maggi samples conforming to food safety standards and later regulator FSSAI rejecting those test reports.
"There is public perception (about Maggi). If public perception gets dented even once then it become difficult to control. These days, media trial is happening in a big way. It had happened in the case of Coca-Cola too," he added. Consumers get affected when there are health related issues associated with products, he said, adding that there would be criticism in a Parliamentary democracy when such controversies come to light.
In June, FSSAI had banned Maggi noodles after it found its 30 samples "unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption. FSSAI had also said that Nestle violated labelling regulations on taste enhancer 'MSG' and ordered company to submit compliance report on its orders.
The government has been facing the ire after various bans that it has imposed recently. Among these include ban on porn sites in India, beef ban in Maharashtra 4, ban on the release of the documentary - India's Daughter in India - on the Delhi rape victim Nirbhaya and several others.
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