As the Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Department almost a year ago asked the consumers in Jammu & Kashmir to forget about it’s role of intervention or regulation in controlling the prices of even basic essential commodities like mutton, chicken and several other poultry products, vegetables fruits and the likes, the prices in markets keep fluctuating with retailers having the sweet choice fix prices of almost all the essential commodities and charge consumers accordingly both in Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. So while the retailers carry on their trading activities to suit their own commercial conveniences, the consumers have been virtually left to face the exploitation of the retailers with no system of checks and balances in place. Though this does not leave any scope left for the people to talk about the rights of consumers but quite amazing it is that still consumer affairs department talks about rights of consumers on consumer affairs day without protecting the rights of the consumers. While rise in the prices of essential commodities frequently triggered by frequent traffic blockades on Jammu-Srinagar highway is as good an irrefutable fact today as it use to be in yesteryears, the Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS &CA) Department does not bother to even protect the rights of the consumers which by the simple definition of it’s name is it’s duty and yet again this department not only talks about rights of consumers but also celebrate consumer affairs day.
“In yesteryears the consumers were being blamed for not reporting to the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Department with their grievances about over pricing of essential commodities but now they have been ceased of right to report about their grievances on overpricing of essential commodities. Strange enough that it that while Director General Police R R Swain has enforced a novel method of grievance redressal in Police department, the Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department has almost shut it’s doors for grievances and their redressal in the department”.
With Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department stopping regulation of the prices of essential commodities in the markets the retailers almost freed from the fare of explanations from the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Department are now at the liberty enforce the practices of illegal profiteering at their own whims and wishes more so during chilly months of winter. While the people of low income groups don’t get the sense of exploitation in purchasing essential commodities at the retail outlets the people of low income groups surely not only get the sense of exploitation but find themselves in the state of over exploitation and virtually helplessness at the retail poultry and vegetable outlets also selling poultry products like chicken and eggs besides fruits. In yesteryears the consumers were being blamed for not reporting to the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Department with their grievances about over pricing of essential commodities but now they have been ceased of right to report about their grievances on overpricing of essential commodities. Strange enough that it that while Director General Police R R Swain has enforced a novel method of grievance redressal in Police department, the Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department has almost shut it’s doors for grievances and their redressal in the department.
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