List of ‘non-swadeshi’ items banned in CAPF canteens put on hold; fresh list awaited

New Delhi:  Hours after making it public, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday put on hold a list of non-swadeshi products that would not to be sold at Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) canteens saying there were discrepancies and a fresh list would be released soon.

The MHA on May 13 had declared that the nationwide network of over 1,700 Central Police Canteens (CPCs) or CAPF canteens will only sell indigenous or 'swadeshi' products from June 1 in a bid to give a fillip to domestic industries.

The MHA has asked the Central Police Welfare Board to put on hold its list, issued earlier in the day, barring 1,026 items of over 70 companies from selling in CPCs, a home ministry official said in a fresh order.

A new list would be released soon after due diligence, the official said.

Another official said the list of banned items included many made in India products, leading to it being put on hold.

The fresh instructions come just hours after a government order said that over 1,000 products manufactured by firms like Dabur, VIP industries, Eureka Forbes, Jaquar, HUL (foods), Nestle India will not be sold at CAPF canteens anymore from Monday as they are not 'swadeshi' or are prepared from purely imported products.

The move to sell only 'Made in India' products in CPCs followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to the people to buy local products and be vocal about them.

"Vocal for Local," he had declared in his address.

The CAPFs -- CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and NSG -- canteens do an estimated business worth Rs 2,800 crore annually by selling their products to 50 lakh family members of about 10 lakh personnel of these forces tasked for a variety of internal security duties and border guarding. 

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• CAPF
• swadeshi
• Dabur