New Delhi: An hour after delisting and stopping the sale of 1,026 “imported products”, including Bajaj electronic gadgets, Nestle food items, Prestige cookware and Maybelline cosmetics, at the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) canteens across India, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) withdrew the order.
The decision was taken after many ‘made in India’ products also made it to the list and the same was issued “without any consultation with seniors”, ThePrint has learnt.
R.M. Meena, DIG, headquarters, Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB), who issued the order, has been asked to give a written explanation and also removed from his post, sources said. The Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar functions under the MHA.
“This is clarified that the list issued by Kendriya Kalyan Police Bhandar regarding delisting of certain products has been erroneously issued at the level of the CEO (Meena). The list has been withdrawn and action has been initiated for the lapse,” said Anand Prakash Maheshwari, chairman, DG CRPF, in a statement.
A fresh revised list of products, whose sale will not be permitted at the CAPF canteens, will now be issued by MHA after due consultation with all stakeholders.
“The order was issued without any consultation with seniors and thus stands infructuous. A new order will be issued with a fresh list of products,” a government official said.
“The list that was issued has many products that are made in India and thus it needs to be revised,” he added.
According to a source in the MHA, the officer concerned got in touch with all the firms/companies, and unilaterally prepared a list, made the order and issued it without getting the required approvals.
On 14 May, the MHA had issued an order stating all CAPF canteens across the country will sell only swadeshi (made in India) goods from 1 June.
The decision, MHA said, was taken to promote “self-reliant India”, which emphasises on promoting local products made in India.
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The three categories
According to the earlier order signed by the DIG, KPKB, all products were divided into three categories.
While category 1 are products made purely in India, category 2 are those whose raw materials are imported, but they are manufactured or assembled in India. Category 3, however, are products that are entirely imported.
The previous order said while products falling under category 1 and category 2 will be allowed to be on the KPKB inventory and for sale, products falling under category 3 will be delisted and their sale will not be allowed.
According to another source in the MHA, while the basis of the new order will remain the same, changes will be made only in the list of delisted products.
“The categorisation remains the same. Sale of products that are produced abroad and are imported will not be allowed. While the ones that are produced in India, even though by foreign companies, will be allowed,” the source said.
Which products will not be sold
The source further explained most companies like Nestle, Coke, Samsonite are foreign, but they have subsidiaries in India.
Also, most of these companies import raw materials, but manufacture their products in units set up in India. Products of all these companies will be allowed to be sold.
“If these foreign companies are making the products in India, even if their raw materials are procured from abroad, sale of those products will be allowed,” the source said.
“But, there are some products that these companies do not make in India, but directly import from abroad. For instance, some Maggie products are imported by Nestle from abroad, which will not be allowed to be sold in these canteens,” he added.
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