Sugar : Action, at Last?

Action, at Last?
The Tuteja committee report on revitalisation of the sugar industry covers much familiar ground, plays safe on politically sensitive issues, and makes few recommendations for the long term that have not already been made by other committees studying the sugar sector. The government has accepted the report in full; indeed, it has already acted upon its recommendation by announcing that the monthly free-sale quota (FSQ) release system will be done away with from October 2005, when the next crushing season begins. This conveniently distant date presumably provides enough leeway for the order to be rescinded, as has happened before when the FSQ system was attempted to be reformed. The big question therefore is whether the Tuteja report stands a better chance of being implemented than its predecessor, the Mahajan committee report, which was submitted way back in 1998.