Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 13
“Consumer awareness is low due to the apathy and lack of education among the masses, especially in rural areas. No one has told them about their rights to be informed about product quality, price, protection against unsafe product, access to variety of goods at competitive price, consumer education, etc.,” said Kezhokhoto Savi, president of the Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organization (NVCO) and also the recipient of the first prize National Youth Award on Consumer Protection.
Savi, who is an advocate, was speaking on the topic of consumer rights as part of the four-day convention on Human Rights and Law, organised by the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) of New Delhi, on Saturday, at NEZCC, 4th Mile. He pointed out that “in Nagaland, we do not produce anything except agricultural products and almost everything has to be imported from outside. And there have been many complaints in all district headquarters of defective goods and deficiency services, overcharging of packaged commodities, selling expiry goods, fictitious telephone and electricity bills, no uniformity of prices, removal of original price tag, availability of hazardous products… and many more, is increasing day by day.” Citing an example of consumers’ rights violation, he said taxis cannot charge higher fare taking advantage of the situation of their consumers since the fare has been fixed by the authority in concern.
Naming some of the major problems faced by the consumers in the state, Savi said the citizens of Nagaland face problems like frequent price rise in the market of both essential and non-essential commodities, illegal collection of taxes in the check gates, adulteration of goods such as food, fuel, both petrol and diesel, illegal deduction of project amount causing failure to implement quality of work, be it construction or any other developmental works, water supply, and frequent failures of power, spurious drugs and charging of exorbitant prices in medicines, using of faulty weighing scales, irregular and ineffective service on the part of authority in checking weights and measures, selling of substandard and banned goods or products, etc. The four days’ convention on Human Rights and Law will culminate on June 15 next.
