Every year National Consumers Rights Day is celebrated on 24th December in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country just to highlight the concerns of consumers and their rights. Unfortunately celebrating National Consumers Rights Day has been restricted to seminars, conferences and debates just to attracted the attention of both electronic and print media but no new measures are announced here in Jammu & Kashmir for protection of the basic rights of the consumers.. Though people concerned with the protection of the rights of consumers in Jammu & Kashmir want the government to invoke tough measures for the protection of consumers from anti-public tactics of influential industrialists and traders particularly during the chilly season of winter in Kashmir valley, but the helmsmen don’t pay as much attention towards the concerns of consumers as much they should have take and more so on the day National Consumers Rights day is celebrated in both in Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. Since consumer is obliged to know about his rights enacted by law making bodies but very few people know about their rights under Consumer Protection Act enacted by parliament in the year 1986. It may be noted here that the act is though designed to protect consumer rights to ensure fair competition and free flow of truthful information in the market place, but the rights of consumers are randomly violated by traders in connivance with the field functionaries of the Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department. Unfortunately the functionaries of the Consumers Affairs & Public Distribution (CA&PD) department known for inaction have virtually become protectors of those suppressing the rights of consumers and not the protectors of the rights of consumer. Knowing that the laws are designed for actions against the trades just to protect the gullible consumers unable to take care of themselves, the field functionaries of Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) department are going hand in glove with the traders engaged in fleecing the gullible consumers in violation of the consumers’ act 1986.
- As the Consumer Protection Act provides complete protection to the consumers it is imperative for every consumer to know all about his rights. A consumer should keep himself informed about the quality, quantity, composition and all details of the purchase he is going to make. It is only way for a consumer to protect his rights. Individually, it may be difficult for any consumer to fight against unscrupulous traders most of whom are ever ready to cheat the consumer, but the consumers are at liberty to organise themselves in consumer protection groups in the form of NGOs or join some already recognized NGOs’ and approach fearlessly the agencies empowered to fight for the consumer rights.
Though the National Consumers Rights Day is celebrated across the country with an intention to create awareness among the consumers about their rights so that every consumer discharges his responsibility while making purchases, but the debates, seminars and conferences on the National Consumers Rights Day are restricted to wide publicity of government achievements listed on papers and invisible on ground. So it needs to be clarified to the people in Kashmir that as the Consumer Protection Act provides complete protection to the consumers it is imperative for every consumer to know all about his rights. So a consumer should keep himself informed about the quality, quantity, composition and all details of the purchase he is going to make. It is only way for a consumer to protect his rights. Individually, it may be difficult for any consumer to fight against unscrupulous traders most of whom are ever ready to cheat the consumer, but the consumers are at liberty to organise themselves in consumer protection groups in the form of NGOs or join some already recognized NGOs’ and approach fearlessly the agencies empowered to fight for the consumer rights. Since consumer has rights to make enquiries before purchasing any products, he has the rights to protect his interests on his own.
