Ban on loose spices hits small sellers and poor buyers in Maharashtra

The ban on the sale of loose spices has become a contentious issue in Maharashtra. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has decided to prohibit the sale of loose spices. The decision is affecting daily-wage labourers, ordinary customers and small spice sellers.

Packaged spices are costlier, which is why many poor and ordinary customers prefer to buy them loose. Daily-wage workers and low-income customers are seen buying loose spices worth Rs 10 to Rs 50, according to their needs.

If the Food and Drug Administration's ban on loose spices is enforced, the financial burden will fall on ordinary customers, and it is feared that small vendors who sell spices by the roadside and on pavements will also be hit.

Spice sellers say packaged spices are expensive and do not fit the budgets of ordinary poor customers. Their position is that while imposing the ban, the economic condition of customers and the business of small sellers should also be considered.

Customers who have to buy packaged spices face a heavier financial burden. The livelihood of those who run small-scale loose-spice businesses by the roadside and on pavements is also being affected. Small traders and sellers say the market is in a slump and packaged spices are beyond the reach of ordinary customers, so the decision will only benefit large branded companies.

Spice traders say they are the ones suffering losses. They are selling at low prices spices that are expensive in the market. Buyers who come purchase spices worth Rs 10 to Rs 20. Some spices sell at Rs 1,000 a kilo. With the market in a slump, customers are few.

Traders say the decision is wrong for the general public. They ask how ordinary people will buy. In their view, allowing only packaged spices means making big companies bigger.