The Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries was apprehensive that state-level restrictions could hit the food supply.
The Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is setting up a grievance cell to maintain food supply.
The move comes even as state governments across India are imposing restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.
After all, India has seen a meteoric rise in the number of daily new Covid-19 infections in the past week. The Omicron variant has been fueling the increase.
The ministry was apprehensive that state-level restrictions could hit the supply of food and food-related essentials, like cooking oil.
It has set up the grievance cell to make sure that is does not come to pass.
The ministry said in a statement: “Subsequent to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases across the country, steps are being taken by state governments/UT administration to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus.”
It added: “The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has a dedicated grievance cell for the food and food-related industry to ensure hassle-free operations and uninterrupted supply of essentials for citizens.”
MoFPI Deputy Secretary and of Covid Cell in-charge Sanjay Kumar Singh also sought to assuage other fears in the statement.
He said the ministry would “like to assure its commitment towards all food processing and related industries.”
He added that the ministry would also provide “necessary support” for the sector. The aid would look to “ensure successful continuity of business of the agri-food industry in India.”
The ministry had set up a similar grievance cell during the first wave of the pandemic. Back then, the entire country had gone into lockdown.
It had also stepped in to address production and logistics related grievances of the food processing industry during the second pandemic wave last year.
It had done so because different state governments had imposed different kinds of restrictions depending on local conditions.
