'Iodised salt, antidote for poverty'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 6. The controversy over the recent Government decision to withdraw the ban on consumption of non-iodised salt came alive again at the Indian Science Congress here today, with a leading nutrition expert making a forceful argument in favour of promoting iodised salt as an antidote for poverty.

The extreme poverty and socio-economic backwardness prevailing in the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar region was mainly because of the high incidence of iodine deficiency and not due to lack of natural resources or initiative by the peopleDr. N. Kochupillai, head of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, said.

The low agricultural productivity in the area despite the fertile soil and plentiful water was not because the people were lazy as alleged by some planners. The main cause, on the other hand, was that they were weak with poor physical energy and motivation due to thyroid problems caused by iodine deficiency in their diet, he said.

``Their diminutive build, and disproportionate body, slow response to stimuli and dull apathetic expression, tardy reflexes and physical sluggishness'' were all symptomatic of the overwhelming path-biology, he added. The former director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Prof. V. Ramalingaswami, who also participated in the plenary session, in his presentation, urged that the issue of malnutrition be moved from the agenda of welfare to that of rights.

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