A meeting of the State Consumer Protection Council (SCPC) was held here today to discuss several pertinent issues.
The meeting was chaired by Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister and Chairman of the SCPC, Comingone Ymbon, and was attended by members of the council, including MLAs Rupert Momin, Santa Mary Shylla and Damanbait Lamare, and other officials.
Pravin Bakshi, Commissioner and Secretary of Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, informed that the meeting was held to assess various initiatives undertaken by the department, like the Price Monitoring System (PMS), monitoring of prices of 22 essential commodities to give advance feedback for taking appropriate policy interventions to ensure the availability of essential commodities and to keep prices of the items under control. At the district and sub-division levels, the Price Monitoring Vigilance Committees submit reports on a quarterly basis.
The meeting also discussed the illegal smuggling of sugar along the Indo-Bangladesh border in which the department has instructed all the districts/sub-divisions to communicate and coordinate with the Border Security Force (BSF) and relevant departments accordingly to prevent such illegal activities and to prevent sugar inflation.
The meeting also addressed the issue of fortified rice and its awareness and suggested a regular inspection of petrol pumps regarding complaints against fuel adulteration.
Ymbon urged the officials to have a robust mechanism to conduct consumer awareness programmes, sensitisation on consumer rights at the district and state level. He also instructed at the district level to involve self-help groups (SHGs) in spreading awareness to the people at the grassroots.
