The government has waited a long, long while to redress a major grievance of the vanaspati manufacturers in the country and it is only with effect from November 1 that they will be able to use upto 30 per cent of the domestic traditional edible oils. All this long, they were forced to rely on imported and non-traditional indigenous oils. It may be a belated aspect of the spirit of liberalisation considering that on the basis of input cost alone there can be little justification for use of mustard, rapeseed, groundnut and sesame oils, unless one can argue that even at the present ruling prices these oils can be cost competitive compared to non-traditional oils. The past restrictions had some merit in that they contributed to promotion of minor oils and in the process helped provide employment to tribals by way of collection of seeds in different places. But, obviously, one consequence has been a rise in prices of these oils.

One cannot say off-hand whether the changed policy will continue to augment supply of different minor oils, but the allowance to use 30 per cent of the major edible oils will mean reduced reliance on non-traditional inputs. The vanaspati industry may not have the same urge to encourage collection of seeds and production of minor oils. One hopes that the government has a strategy to meet the changed circumstances. In a liberalising economy, there can be no case for undue restrictions, but granted that, some thought also has to be given to the tribal economy so long dependent on collection of minor oil seeds. Tribals should not be left to the mercy of market forces.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.