National Seminar on Rural Consumers and the Market: Issues and Challenges (August 16-17, 2013) The Centre for Consumer Studies in collaboration with National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi, Jharkhand organized a Two Days National Seminar on Rural Consumers and the Market: Issues and Challenges on August 16-17, 2013. The Seminar was sponsored by the Department of Consumer Affairs, GoI. Nearly 112 participants from various parts of the country participated in the Seminar. The broad objectives of the seminar were to; understand the impact of globalisation and market forces on rural consumers; to identify the problems being faced by the rural consumers particularly the tribals; to evaluate the legislative framework to protect the consumers; to assess the ground realities of the provision of various services and the resultant exploitation of rural consumers and; to provide a platform for various stakeholders to deliberate and draw up strategies to protect the rural consumers. The seminar was attended by more than 150 participants from various parts of the country which included academicians, researchers, legal experts, policy makers, students, elected members of Panchayati Raj Institutions and NGOs working in the rural areas. Dignitaries on the Dias Welcoming the guests and the participants Mr. A.K. Sengupta, Registrar, National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi gave a brief about the activities of the Law University and the need to organize such important seminars. 1
Mr. A.K. Sengupta, Registrar, NUSRL, Ranchi delivering Welcome Address The dignitaries and other members were introduced by Dr. P.P. Mitra, Assistant Dean of Faculty. In the course of his speech, Dr. Mitra gave a brief outline of the latest developments in the university including the progress of different research centers viz., Centre for Legal Aid Programme, Centre for Intellectual Property Right and the Centre for Tribal Studies and their achievements till date. He also highlighted the relevance of the seminar from the point of view of socio-economic justice of consumers. The Seminar was inaugurated by Hon ble Justice D.P. Singh, President, Jharkhand State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ranchi. In his inaugural address Justice Singh gave a brief account of the Consumer Protection Act and its various provisions. He also dwelt upon the working of the consumer complaint redressal mechanism in the state. According to him the process of Hon ble Justice D.P. Singh, President, Jharkhand SCDRC, Ranchi delivering Inaugural Address complaint redressal has of late become technical as a result many rural consumers are afraid of approaching these agencies for redressal of their complaints.. Highlighting the plight of the rural consumers he called upon various stakeholders to plan new strategies to protect the rural consumers from exploitation. Prof. M.J. Xavier, Director, IIM, Ranchi delivered the Keynote Address on the occasion. He gave a vivid account of the rural market on which the consumer depends. According to him the rural market is expanding and marketers are focusing on the unexplored rural market. It is a good thing in one way but it has also resulted 2
in exploitation of the rural consumers. Illiteracy and ignorance are perhaps some of the reasons for exploitation but the rural consumers also have no choice as they live in debt and die in debt. The rural consumers paying capacity is so less that he has to depend on credit for purchase which opens the door for exploitation. The limits to availability of products of daily use force him to look for inferior quality products and services. He concluded by saying that such seminars are important as they focus on specifics and that the recommendations would be very useful for policy setting. Prof. M.J. Xavier, Director, IIM, Ranchi delivering the Keynote Address Prof. Suresh Misra, Chair Professor and Coordinator, Centre for Consumer Studies, IIPA in his opening remarks highlighted the problems faced by the rural Prof. Suresh Misra, Chair Professor, CCS, IIPA delivering opening remarks consumers and the need to protect them as the bulk of the consumer s in India still live in the rural areas. He also elaborated that there is no specific policy designed to cater to the rural consumers. Rural consumers are always seen as a homogenous group but in the rural areas the problems of farmers, women and children are much different from each other as their needs are different. Therefore we need to have targeted polices which can cater to specific groups. Food adulteration, high price, spurious products, weights and measures are some of the major problems being faced by the rural consumers. With the expansion of service sector the problem has become much more acute. The seminar was divided into various technical sessions in which experts and researches presented thematic papers followed by discussion. Each session was chaired by an eminent person. The First Technical Session was on Globalisation, Market and the Rural Consumers. The session was chaired by Prof. Geetanjali 3
Dash, F.M.University Ballasore, Odisha and Co-Chaired by Dr. Pankaj Kumar Chaturvedi, Assistant Professor, Chota Nagpur Law College, Jharkhand. Ten papers on various topics relating to the theme were presented by various scholars. The papers highlighted the impact of globalisation on the markets and how new products and services have expanded. The discussion also focused on the impact of globalisation on the rural consumers. As a result of globalisation the aspirations of the rural consumers have raised but their buying capacity remains low hence easy to exploit them. The Second Technical Session was on Rural Consumers and the Service Sector. The session was chaired by Dr. Udayabhanu Bhattacharya, Associate Professor and Head Department of Rural Development and Management, University of Kalyani, W.B and Co-chaired by Dr. Shweta Mohan, Assistant Professor, NUSRL, Ranchi. Eight researched papers were presented in the session. The paper presents covered a number of services like banking, insurance, transport, electricity, telecommunications and financial services. The papers highlighted the expansion of service sector and the extent of exploitation of the consumers by various service providers due to illiteracy and ignorance. They also highlighted the non-availability of any redressal mechanism to address the problems of the rural consumers. The service provides trap the rural consumers with false information and promises. There is no accountability of the service providers in the rural areas as they get way even after cheating the consumers. Financial illiteracy is a major cause of concern as the poor rural consumers lose their life savings in chit funds and such other unregulated financial schemes. Students making presentations 4
The Third Technical Session was on Problems of Indigenous (tribal) Consumers and vulnerable sections of the society. The session was chaired by Dr. Kiran Gupta, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, and Co- Chaired by Dr. Uday Shankar, Assistant Professor, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT-Kharagpur, WB. Eight papers were presented in the session. The speakers highlighted that the rural consumers were still a socially disadvantaged group. A variety of problems faced by the indigenous consumers were highlighted. The question was how you protect the rights of tribal consumers when still in some parts of Jharkhand barter system exists. The rural consumers are exploited in various forms. Scarcity of essential goods and services is one of the major problems. The food supplied through the PDS is unfit for human consumption but the tribals have no choice. The Fourth Technical Session was on Role of Civil Society in Protecting the Rural Consumers. The session was chaired by Dr. Manik Chakraborty, Head, Department of Law, University of Burdwan, WB and Co-chaired by Dr. P.P.Mitra Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean, NUSRL Ranchi. Six papers on the theme were presented in the session highlighting the role the NGOs can play in empowering the consumers. The civil society has a major stake in the consumer movement and there are a large number of such organisations working for the welfare of the consumers in the rural areas. The paper presenters highlighted that the consumer movement is weak as the NGOs working at the local level do not have the required capacity to execute programmes. They lack financial as well as manpower resources. A few case studies were also discussed during the session highlighting the role of civil society in consumer movement. The civil society organisations need to upgrade their skills to make a meaningful impact in the rural areas. The Fifth Technical Session was on Consumer Protection and the Role of Media. The session was chaired by Prof. M.K.Padhy, Associate Professor, BHU and Co- chaired by Mr. Yogesh Pratap Singh, Assistant Professor and Head, Department of Law, National Law University, Cuttack. Seven papers on the role of Media and Consumers were presented during the session. The major focus was on misleading advertisements and the consumers. A number of papers highlighted on the way the 5
consumers are duped to purchase products which do not have any scientific backing. These products are also health hazards and the advertisers have no accountability. Misleading advertisements not only cause financial loss to the consumers but also are a health hazard. They infringe upon consumers right to information and choice. Misleading advertisements is a major cause of concern and the government needs to take effective steps to check this menace. They also expressed the need to have a regulator to check advertisements. ASCI must be vested with some teeth to check advertisements. The Sixth Technical session was on Challenges in Empowering the Rural Consumers. The Session was chaired by Prof. Suresh Misra, Chair Professor and coordinator Centre for Consumer Studies, IIPA, New Delhi and Co -chaired by Prof. Sankar Majumdar, Department of Rural Development, Vishwa Bharti University, WB. The session was a Panel discussion on the theme and had eminent persons on the panel which included Prof. Manki Chakraborty, Head, Department of Law University of Burdwan, Prof. Geeetanjali Dash, F.M.university, Odisha, Dr. Kiran Gupta, Delhi University and Dr. Udayabhanu Bhattacharya, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Rural development and Management, University of Kalyani, WB. Each panelist highlighted a specific issue relating to the rural consumers and how they could be empowered. The focus was on making the Consumer Protection Act more effective in terms of redressal of complaints, disposal of complaints within the stipulated time and also strengthening the redressal mechanism in terms of manpower and better infrastructure. School and college students must be involved in the consumer movement and the NGOs should take up complaints of the rural consumers apart from filing of complaints. The Sixth Technical session on Challenges in Empowering the Rural Consumers chaired by Prof. Suresh Misra, CCS and Co -chaired by Prof. Sankar Majumdar, Vishwa Bharti University, WB 6
The last session was the Valedictory session wherein Dr. P. P. Mitra, Assistant Dean, NUSRL, Ranchi gave the welcome address followed by the valedictory address delivered by Dr. S. M. Kanitkar, Member, NCDRC, New Delhi. Dr. Kantikar in his address gave a bird s eye view of Consumer Protection in India and how the rural consumers are deprived of their rights. Through various judgments he explained as to how the three tier redressal mechanism is working to safe guard the interests of the consumers. The vote of thanks was given by Dr. Debasis Poddar, Convener, of the seminar, NUSRL, Ranchi. Dr. S. M. Kanitkar, Member, NCDRC, New Delhi delivering the Valedictory Address Participants in the Seminar The following are the recommendations of the Recommendations of the Seminar; 1. Among all the consumers the rural consumers are the most exploited ones and therefore they ought to be treated as stake holders and not as commodity to be exploited, 2. There is a need to educate the rural consumers about consumer rights and ways and means to make daily purchase, 3. The rural consumers must be educated about various safety, quality and standard marks. They should be encouraged to buy such products, 4. Consumer Clubs in schools and colleges should be set up to involve rural students in the consumer movement. Rallies should be organized in the villages on National Consumer Day to create awareness about consumer rights, 7
5. Extensive use of the media particularly the Radio should be used to create awareness about consumer rights, 6. The Panchayati raj Institutions should also be involved in the consumer movement. In the meetings of the gram sabha the state government should distribute pamphlets on consumer issues, 7. The State Institute s of Rural Development should organize orientation programmes on consumer protection to sensitize the elected members of the local bodies 8. Under the Consumer Protection Act consumer redressal forums should also be set up at the tehsil/block level so that the rural consumers have access to justice system. 9. The law enforcement agencies should be sterengthed to check malpractices relating to quality, quantity, weight & measures and spurious products. 10. Both the central as well as the state governments should draw up specific policies to protect the rural consumers as their needs and problems are very different from their urban counterparts Prof. Suresh Misra Programme Coordinator 8