Regulating the regulators Govt must strengthen accountability

Contamination in packaged spices, eye drops, and children's cough syrups; misinformation in advertisements for an Ayurvedic medicine; revelations of high sugar content in baby food; and the mislabelling of sugared food products as "health drinks".

These issues that have serially hit the headlines over the past year point to the serious weaknesses in consumer-facing regulatory institutions in India. It has taken court appeals, exposes by influencers and nongovernment organisations, and embarrassing complaints from global regulatory bodies to highlight these weaknesses. The upshot in most cases has been to haul up the companies concerned with restrictions without raising questions of how the plethora of state and central regulators allowed the transgressions in the first place.