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Sometimes the NDA government gets called out even for proposals it has not made. But then, the administration and its supporters have made so many outrageous attempts to control people’s personal decisions that it was easy to believe it was making one more such effort with its stance on the portions of food to be served by high-end restaurants.

In all fairness, though, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has not actually proposed controlling the food portions that restaurants serve. In a short interview (video above), he only suggested that restaurants indicate the size of their portions, so that consumers know how much they need to order.

There is nothing wrong with the objective, which is not to waste food after it has been served. After all, why order, unknowingly, a portion with six pieces of prawn when you only want two? And, as Paswan said, it even saves money for the consumer.

Paswan said that he wants to check with restaurants whether they will do this voluntarily or whether a law will be required. However, he did not propose standardising or bringing some kind of uniformity to the portions being served. “We’re not trying to say, you must serve so much,’ he said. ‘All we’re saying is, disclose the size of the portions.’

Here is the statement he gave to reporters.

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