Saurabh Bhagat reviews functioning of Legal Metrology Department

Srinagar : Commissioner Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA), Saurabh Bhagat, Friday reviewed the overall functioning of the Legal Metrology Department, at the Civil Secretariat, here.
Controller, Legal Metrology Department, Rajinder Singh Tara; Director Finance; Additional Secretary; Joint Controller; Legal Metrology; Deputy Controllers; Assistant Controller and other officers attended the meeting.
The Commissioner Secretary, following review of the achievements, stressed upon the importance of strict implementation of provisions of Legal Metrology laws in commercial transactions for realising exact value of money paid by each of the consumers. He also emphasised the vital role of the Legal Metrology department in everyday consumer rights protection. He also took an in depth review of problems and bottlenecks with regard to infrastructure, manpower and mobility issues.
The Commissioner Secretary assured that necessary steps including efforts for state of art Labs and enforcement mechanisms will be initiated to augment the functioning of the department. He further stressed upon the importance of capacity building of all the officers enabling them handle the issues arising out of day to day technological advancements.
Saurabh Bhagat directed the officers for expeditious processing of all pending proposals of the department. He appreciated the overall efforts of the department while asking the officers to continue working strictly as per provisions of law to protect the interests of the consumers. He asked them to redress all the complaints in a time bound manner and maintain records about the complaints received and disposal made thereof.
The Commissioner Secretary also reviewed the preparation of the department regarding Muharram and Amarnath Yatra 2025. He directed the concerned officers including Nodal officers to focus on effective enforcement, inspections and regular monitoring of malpractices in the market.
Earlier, the Controller presented a detailed overview of the departmental activities undertaken by the department for enforcement of standard of weights and measures in commercial transactions, consumer protection and ensuring fair trade practices in the market.
The Controller also highlighted the contribution of the department towards safeguarding the consumer rights by conducting regular inspections, registering offences, imposing penalties, lodging cases in courts under the provisions of Legal Metrology Act and rules.
The Controller apprised the Commissioner Secretary that about 10 services provided by the department are available online on the J&K Single Window as part of Business Reform Action Plan and Minimizing Regulatory Compliance Burden. He highlighted that the department is fundamentally positioned between the buyers and the sellers with the mandate of ensuring protection of legitimate interests of both the traders and consumers. The department is striking a balance between the twin goals of ensuring consumer protection and ease of doing business.
The Controller further informed that verification camps are being conducted for standardisation of Weights and Measures in far flung areas. Besides, Consumer awareness camps are being organized about the legal provisions and remedies available under the Legal Metrology Act and the Consumer Protection Act. He also informed about the manpower and infrastructure status besides highlighting that the department needs state of the art labs/mobility facility to commensurate the technological advancement in the marketing trends.
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