The stock-taking done at the first national convention on Consumer Protection served to highlight the areas that called for special attention to sustain the momentum of the movement as genuine forum for safeguarding the people’s interests. Spreading awareness about the rights of consumers and the relief open to them in case they did not get their money’s worth of goods and services was rightly identified as the first priority.
While this may not be a difficult task in urban areas, where the movement is concentrated at present, taking it to the vast rural hinterland calls for a multi-media approach in which radio and television have a crucial role to play. The involvement of the 500-odd consumer organizations in the country in publicising the concept of fair trade practices and the remedies available against their violation will prove rewarding, if the message is conveyed through village bodies. Government efforts remain confined at best to setting up the infrastructure after the formal launch of the movement with the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The mounting backlog of cases in consumer courts, points to the need for toning up the district level redressing machinery.
The first national convention on consumer protection has :
