Common (salt) protest

SELLING uniodised salt is an illegal act in India. But making and selling common salt will be the feature of a nationwide protest against the recent steep rise in the prices of vegetables and salt, according to National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), a network of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and grassroots groups.

"Salt iodisation and the ban of uniodised salt was to help big business houses such Tata, who also sell salt," says Thomas Kocherry, a coordinator of NAPM and president of World Forum of Fish Workers and Fish Harvesters. At a press conference in New Delhi, Kocherry argued that the normal price of the iodised salt, Rs 6 per kg, itself includes a huge profit margin. "It shows increasing dominance of the trader community," noted Medha Patkar, leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a part of NAPM.