New IndPress

Bangalore, Aug 8: Close on the heels of states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat banning sale of soft drinks in the premises of educational institutions, the state government in Karnataka is also contemplating to ban sale of Pepsi and Coca Cola in schools.

Karnataka Minister for primary and secondary education Basavaraj S Horatti told media persons here on Monday august 7,  that a decision to this effect would emerge soon.

Horatti said the opinion of the departments concerned would also be sought before imposing a ban on the sale of soft drinks of these brands, in the wake of CSE findings that on an average they contained pesticides 24 times higher than the standards stipulated by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

The CSE findings indicated that levels in samples of Pepsi produced in the Bangalore plant exceeded the BIS standards by 23.2 times for deadly pesticides.

Meanwhile, Bangalore university vice-chancellor H A Ranganath left the question of banning soft drinks, containing pesticide residues and high caffeine, in educational campuses to the state government.

"We don't want to take a suo-motu decision on banning sale of such soft drinks as it can be questioned by the companies.

There has to be a government policy on the matter and we will leave it to the government to take such a step,” he told reporters here.

Dr Ranganath said the varsity was not in a position to impose a ban or take any decision against the sale of aerated drinks as it was not empowered to do so.

It may be recalled here that both Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh governments have issued circulars, banning the sale of such drinks in the canteens of universities and government offices, keeping 'public health' in mind.