India revokes salt ban

A salt seller weighs rock salt on the streets of Bombay

By Abhishek Prabhat in Delhi

India has lifted a two-year ban on the sale of non-iodised salt, ignoring medical opinion and opposition from state governments.

A government order says the ban has been revoked because food consumption is a matter of individual choice.

But the move is opposed by doctors who say it will expose a large section of people to the risk of iodine deficiency.

They say the government's decision has been made to please the protectionist lobby led by a nationalist group, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch.

Health risk

The general secretary of the Indian Medical Association, Dr Prem Aggarwal, told the BBC the government had given in to political pressure to lift the ban.

A salt worker collects salt from the sea to dry in salt pans in north Bombay

Terming it as unfortunate, Dr Aggarwal said this would put people across the country at the risk of iodine deficiency disorders - prominent of which is goitre.

Iodine deficiency can lower the production of thyroxin hormone by the thyroid gland and lead to abnormal enlargement of the gland in the neck, slowing down physical and mental functions.

Doctors say if not treated, it could cause brain deficiency.

Pregnant women suffering from iodine deficiency run the risk of giving birth to physically and mentally underdeveloped babies.

Protecting local producers

State governments had also opposed lifting the ban.

At a meeting last month, state health ministers opposed Delhi's proposal to allow the sale of ordinary salt.

All the states, with the exception of Bihar and Kerala, described the move as a retrograde step going against public health.

They said the Swadeshi Jagran Manch - a nationalist group leading the campaign against foreign goods and manufacturers - had been putting pressure on the government to allow sale of ordinary salt.

The group says iodised salt is at least six times costlier than the ordinary salt produced by local manufacturers.

The group also alleges that multinational companies, having a major share in the more than $500m annual business, were behind the ban imposed in 1998.