Issues including rising consumption of junk food, income inequality and challenges faced by Indians working in Gulf were flagged by Elders in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Stating that the consumption of junk food has increased multifold over last few years, Rajya Sabha BJP MP Sujeet Kumar urged the government to make regulations related to packaged food more stringent, and levy additional tax to discourage people from consuming it.
Raising the issue in the House during Zero Hour, the MP from Odisha said the increase in consumption of junk food can be linked to the rise in non-communicable diseases in India.
He quoted a WHO report from 2023, and said there has been a 40 times increase in consumption of packaged junk food between 2006 and 2019.
"Most worrisome is that children are getting addicted because advertisements target them.
Almost 41 per cent of our population are children. Demographic dividend can become dangerous if our children grow as unhealthy citizens," he said.
The MP also said that the same brands sell better quality food products with better ingredients in western countries, but sell cheaper versions in India.
The MP called for stricter FSSAI regulation, and urged the government to consider levying health tax on junk food. He also stressed on mentioning the ingredients in legible fonts on packaged food. RJD MP Manoj Jha on Friday urged the Centre to take "urgent steps" to address rising income inequality, saying disparity in earnings was not just a challenge for the economy but also a threat to social stability.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, he said the middle- and lower-income groups were witnessing a decline in their earnings while the income of the rich was rising.
Jha asserted that income disparity affected the economy as well as social stability. "It also affects democracy. Because when capital becomes concentrated, it influences politics. And when capital starts dominating politics, it is our collective responsibility to get out of it," he said.
"It also affects education, health care. If we do not take strong and immediate steps, we are sitting on a volcano," the RJD MP added, urging the government to take action.
P Sandosh Kumar, CPI MP from Kerala, raised the challenges being faced by the Indians residing in six countries under the Gulf Cooperative Council and demanded a comprehensive policy on workers going abroad.
Raising the issues during the Question Hour, Kumar said the GCC, which consists of six countries in the Middle East, has a very huge Indian population and there is an urgent need for a comprehensive and pragmatic policy for them as they are contributing immensely to strengthen the Indian economy.