Friday, July 22 2005 15:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a key constituent of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), today (July 22, 2005) demanded that the Centre keep in abeyance the proposed ban on common salt production.

DMK President M Karunanidhi today (July 22, 2005) shot off a letter to the Prime Minister in this regard.

In his letter, he said in many coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, with a long coastal belt, non-iodized common salt making was almost a cottage industry, employing lakhs of people.

Out of the total common-salt produced, major portion was produced by small salt producers, who sold their produce to big merchants, who in turn organised marketing, he said.

These small manufacturers were perturbed over the Centre's proposed move to ban the common salt production, with a view to popularise the use of iodized salt, he said.

"People have started realising the importance of iodised salt from the health point of view. In the matter of human consumption, iodized salt should replace common salt gradually and naturally. The Government should be a facilitator and any amount of propaganda and publicity can be undertaken by the Government to persuade the public to switch over', he said.

However, a sudden ban on common salt would render lakhs of people unemployed and they might not be able to take up production of iodized salt also as it required additional financial and physical infrastructure, he said.