Port Blair, Mar 15: Together with the rest of the globe, World Consumer Rights Day was also observed in these Islands today. The theme for this year’s observance was ‘Consumer Rights in the digital age’. As part of the celebration, a programme was organized by the Directorate of Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, A&N Administration at JNRM Auditorium here this evening. The Lt. Governor, A&N Islands, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi was the chief guest on the occasion. President of the State Commission, A&N Islands, Justice Asim Kumar Ray, Smti Rupa Ray, Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Anindo Majumdar, Adhyaksh, ZPSA, Shri Jaydeep Kumar Dey, Chairperson, PBMC, Shri B. Eswar Rao, Senior Officers of the Administration, ‘Swachh Bharat’ Brand Ambassador, Shri Naresh Chander Lal, Lecturers and students of JNRM were present on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, the Lt Governor complimented the Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs for organizing the event on the occasion of ‘World Consumers Rights Day’. The Lt Governor said, the term consumer has a vast meaning in itself and we all are consumers in one way or the other. Every trader or merchant would also be a consumer for providing one or other goods or services. As such, everyone would in turn come under the ambit of consumer laws, he added.
The Lt Governor said in order to curb the menace of unfair trade practices, there are a number of laws to protect the consumers from the merchants or traders. But not many of us are really cognizant of the provisions of the laws to protect the rights guaranteed to the consumers, the Lt Governor remarked adding that in order to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of laws, there is need to make the people aware of their rights and the provisions of laws to protect their right.
He said, it is important that the Consumer Dispute Redressal Fora at various levels meet the aspirations of the consumers. “The disputes under consumer laws should be disposed off within the timelines as far as possible, so that the larger interest of consumers can be protected”, he added.
Speaking about the consumer disputes in Isles, the Lt Governor said, there are very few number of consumer disputes while the disposal rate is very good. He expressed happiness that the Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has envisaged to have ‘Consumer Advisory Networks’ across this territory during 2017-18 which will focus on enhancing the awareness activities and will also issue advisories to the consumers to help them seek services of the dispute redressal forums.
The Lt Governor said, in this drastically changing era, it is also equally important for the Administration to play a proactive role to bring in transparency through modern IT tools, so that the rights of the consumers are well protected.
Mentioning about the initiatives taken by the Administration in the end-to-end PDS computerization as a measure to bring in reforms in TPDS, he said through FPS automation, it has been ensured that PDS beneficiaries are well informed about their entitlements, price of the commodities, availability of commodities at FPS etc, so that the interest of the beneficiaries in terms of consumers perspective are well addressed and protected.
About the changing trends of online shopping, he said that in traditional way of transaction, the buyer used to select the product before it is purchased, but with the introduction of online shopping, the avenues of unfair trade practice have also increased to a greater extent and thereby the ambit of the consumer law has also extended to that level. Similarly, he stated, that there have been instances of misleading advertisements, which lures the consumers through unrealistic commitments. Often these consumers get into the trap of the misleading advertisements and are exploited or cheated by the unlawful business entities. In these modern days, it becomes our mandate to address this menace, so that consumers are well protected from the unethical trade practice, the Lt Governor added.
The winners of various competitions organized during the week long programme as part of creating awareness on Consumer Rights were felicitated by the Lt. Governor. He also felicitated the FPS owner of Deepali Enterprise from Diglipur for implementing 50 thousand cashless transactions, SC Enterprise from Nicobar for implementing 4 lakh cashless transaction and FPS Rajan Store, Dairy Farm for maintaining good ambience in the shop.
The President of the State Commission, A&N Islands, Justice Asim Kumar Ray, while speaking about ‘Consumer Rights in the digital age’ said ‘the death of distance’ that is intrinsic to information networking is probably the single most important economic force shaping the society at the dawn of 21st century. He said, today is an age of internet economy and according to the study by the Boston Consulting Group’s Centre for consumer and customer insight, India is on the threshold of a digital revolution. The number of internet users in India is expected to nearly triple from 125 million in 2011 to 330 million by 2016, he added. He further added that the rapid pace of development of internet in such a short span of time has also created a huge platform for an informational world- wide market. Speaking about the consumer movement in India, he said, one of the important milestones in the consumer movement in the country has been the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. This, he said is a progressive and comprehensive piece of umbrella legislation covering all goods and services.
In his address, the Chief Secretary, Shri Anindo Majumdar complimented the Department of Civil Supply & Consumer Affairs for striving to improve awareness among consumers about their rights. He also complimented the Department for the successful implementation of e-PDS in South Andaman despite poor connectivity. He remarked that often consumers are not aware of their rights and do not have access to free market but with the arrival of digital age, things are being transformed. He said in these Isles, the consumers are reasonably informed about their rights and due to limited choice, but nowadays a lot many consumers have switched to online shopping as well. He further stated that improvement in the IT sector in Isles with proper connectivity in place; will further enable the consumer the right to choose. He said, more thrust has to be given in creating awareness about consumer rights among Islanders and the right to consumer education should continue in every part of the Islands particularly the Nicobar District.
Earlier, welcoming the gathering the Secretary-cum- Director, Dept. of Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Shri Sandip J. Jacques highlighted the significance of the day. He said, the World Consumer Rights Day aims at creating awareness among consumers about their basic rights as well as to protect them against market abuse and various other social injustice meted out to the consumers. He also threw light on the various initiatives taken up by the Dept. of CS&CA for the consumers of A&N Islands. He informed that so far, e-PDS has been implemented in 345 FPS out of 487 and the remaining FPS will also be covered soon while 70 thousand smart cards have been issued to the PDS beneficiaries which has led to ease in use of commodities as well as knowledge about rates of commodities. He further added that 97% of the population of Isles has been covered by FPS for meeting the food grains requirements. Further, focus is on to cover the North & Middle Andaman Districts as well as the Nicobar District phase wise, he added.
A beautiful cultural programme by students of JNRM and a puppet show cum skit by Ms Priyanka Talukdar on the ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ and on curbing food wastage, received huge applause from the gathering.
The programme concluded with the vote of thanks proposed by Dy. Director, CS&CA, Shri Sanjay Balan.
