Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister and Chairman Punjab State Consumer Protection Council, Adaish Partap Singh Kairon today emphasized the need to initiate a determined campaign to educate consumers regarding their rights and duties.Addressing a meeting of the Punjab State Consumer Protection Council, Mr. Kairon said there was a greater need for generating consumer awareness, especially during the time of competition in market to protect the interest of common man. He also said that the government was already in touch of various NGOs and Voluntary Organizations that have been involved in the task of generating consumer awareness across the state. He also said that a technique should be evolved to provide tagged information about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods so as to protect the consumers against unfair trade practices.
Taking serious view of the alleged exploitation of the consumers at the hands of many private companies regarding their services, terms and conditions, leading to loss of consumers, the Minister said that the government has tightened the noose against such unscrupulous elements and would take appropriate action against the erring.He said that Punjab Government has already constituted Punjab State Consumer Redressal Commission at the state level, followed by the District Redressal forums, where consumers can easily register their complaints, added Mr. Kairon. He said that three state benches were also functional to decide the cases under Consumer Protection Act besides district forum in each district.
The Minister also suggested that a model consumer friendly draft agreement should be formulated jointly with the department of Housing and Urban Development, signed by both the consumer as well as the colonizers so that the colonizers do not take the consumer for a ride and this agreement should be made mandatory for each colonizer.Directing the representatives of oil companies, the Minister said that they should educate the consumers regarding the LPG cylinders to be supplied to the consumers. He said that LPG companies should also educate the insurance component in case of LPG mishap.Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included Mr. D. S. Grewal, Secretary Food and Supplies, Ms. Madhavi Kataria, Joint Secretary Local Bodies department, representatives of POWERCOM, Health, Industries, NGOs, Bureau of Indian Standards, Weighs and Measures and other senior officers of the department.