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By Our Special Correspondent
The JPC has been asked to finalise its report by the first day of the winter session of Parliament. The 10 members from the Lok Sabha are: Mr. Pawar, Anantha Kumar and Sudha Yadav (BJP), Ramesh Chennithala and Avtar Singh Bhandana (Congress), K. Yerran Naidu (Telugu Desam Party), E. Ahamed (Muslim League), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Anil Basu (CPI-M) and Ranjit Kumar Panja (Trinamool Congress). The five Rajya Sabha members are Prithviraj Chauhan (Congress), S.S. Ahluwalia (BJP), Sanjay Nirupam (Shiv Sena), Prasanta Chatterjee (CPI-M) and Prem Chand Gupta (Rashtriya Janata Dal). Talking to the media later, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, denied that she had given a "clean chit'' to the cola giants, Pepsi and Coca-Cola. "If some companies had used her statement in Parliament to advertise their soft drink as safe, that was wrong of them," she added. "I had only stated what the laboratory findings were and juxtaposed them against the analysis done by the Centre for Science and Environment," she said. "In fact, it was the media which described my statement as a clean chit to the cola giants," Ms. Swaraj added, pointing out that her report was "mixed" with some brands faring better than others. To a question, she clarified that the "ban" on serving of colas and some other soft drinks in Parliament would continue till the JPC submitted its report and came to a conclusion.
Offer rejected
Ms. Swaraj was more than annoyed that some people had continued to insinuate that money might have changed hands. It was for this reason that the Government had straightaway offered the chairmanship of the JPC to the Opposition. She said she had asked the Congress whether the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi, would like to chair the JPC, but that was turned down, as was the offer that the Congress deputy leader, Shivraj Patil, chair it. As against the rules under which the BJP and its allies would have dominated the JPC, the Government had been content to let the Opposition parties have the majority, yet another "proof'' of its strict neutrality on this issue. At the same time, Ms. Swaraj was at pains to point out that she could not take action against the cola giants when their product was within the norms of the country "as of now". After the JPC report is made available, the Health Ministry would notify new standards for soft drinks, juices and other packed beverages that contain 90 per cent water, she said. Ms. Swaraj also cautioned against judging everything in India against European Union norms. "If that is done we will all die of thirst," she said. At the same time she would like to ensure that what was available was safe.
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