Chandigarh
15 March 2017
DIVYA AZAD
“Consumer is the driving force behind any business but it is often seen consumer is the most vulnerable part of the chain. Exploitation of consumers because of non-awareness of his rights is common, hence there is a need for consumer movement”, said Pawan Kumar Bansal, former Union Minister while speaking at a seminar on ‘Consumer Awareness on Quality and Services’ held at Chandigarh Press Club, Sector 27 here today on the occasion of World Consumer Day.
Bansal was the chief guest of the event and was delivering the keynote address at the seminar organised by National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), a constituent Board of Quality Council of India (QCI), New Delhi in collaboration with Consumer Coordination Council (CCC), New Delhi. In the inaugural session, Mr. Surinder Verma, Secretary, Consumer Coordination Council (CCC) welcomed participants.
Bansal said, when the Consumer Protection Act came into being in 1985 and many organisations came together to generate awareness. After so many awareness levels have gone up but people still need to know about their rights, and there should be awareness sessions in schools and colleges and they must be made aware of how legal action can be taken by a consumer without much formalities involved.
Mr. Justice K.C. Gupta (Retd.) Punjab & Haryana High Court was a special speaker on the subject and Ms. Sashi Rekha, Director, NABCB was the key note speaker who apprised participants with the importance of certification of quality boards.
While speaking on the occasion, Ms. Rekha said, “We have an obligation to generate consumer awareness because this country needs such awareness programs. They need to be made aware of certifications, what is quality standard, what is technical regulation, and what are the benefits of accreditation etc. The consumers need to understand their rights as an informed and educated consumer is always powerful. In the technical session, Ms. Sashi Rekha in detail spoke about voluntary standard and regulation and also told about the complaints handling system.
The inaugural session ended with the vote of thanks by Sh. Deepak Dhingra, Vice Chairman, Citizen Awareness Group.
Sh. Rajesh Maheshwari, NABCB highlighted Accreditation as well as product Certification. Representative from BIS also made a speech on system product certification by BIS.
Prof. Vandana Kumar from the Law Department, Panjab University, spoke on the need of quality goods and services. The protection and promotion of consumer rights is important function of the government and awareness is a necessity, she said.
The event ended by vote of thanks made by Sh. Surinder Verma, Secretary, CCC.
