DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS

            The Department has taken a number of steps to generate consumer awareness and to protect and promote consumer welfare.  The plan allocation for consumer programme has been raised from Rs. 18.67 crore in 2004-05 to Rs. 107.94 crore in 2005-06 and Rs. 163 crore in 2006-07.

            A National Consumer Helpline (NCH) was inaugurated at Delhi University on   World Consumer Rights Day this year with financial assistance from the Department of Consumer Affairs.  With a toll free telephone no. (1800-11-4000), this helpline provides guidance, information and advice to consumers for dealing with their day-to-day consumer related problems.  Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) has been appointed as a consultant to the Department of Consumer Affairs for three years in the area of consumer protection and consumer welfare.

            A Consumer Online Research and Empowerment Centre (CORE) has been set up in collaboration with Consumer Coordination Council, a Federation of Voluntary Consumer Organisations in the country.  The project provides scientific and effective system of collection and dissemination of consumer related information enabling consumers to seek quality goods and services.  It also provides e-counselling and mediation for consumer complaints through its website, www.core.nic.in

            A project for computersation and Computer Networking of Consumer Forums in the country (CONFONET) was launched in 2005 with a view to provide IT solution to promote e-governance, transparency, efficiency and systemizing the work of consumer forums.

International Cooperation

            The Ministry has initiated a process of entering into MoUs in consumer protection with various organizations in the developed as well as developing countries.  While MoUs on Consumer Protection have been signed with Cuba and Mauritius, MoU on Consumer Product Safety was signed with the Consumer Product Safety Commission in USA.

            An initiative was made for securing German assistance for adoption of best international practices.  The German Government has committed an assistance of 1.5 million euros for the project under which support will be provided for adoption of best international practices at the national level in consumer protection and legal metrology.

 

BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS

            The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has initiated hallmarking of gold jewellery in 2000 and at present 37 hallmarking centres have been recognised for this purpose and more than 1,500 jewellers certified under the scheme. So far about 115 lakh jewellery articles have been hallmarked.  BIS has also launched hallmarking of silver and 28 jewellers have been granted licences so far.

            A scheme of setting up of Assaying and Hallmarking centres for gold jewellery was approved by the Government for implementation during 2005-07 in 35 select districts on a pilot basis with central assistance.

Weights And Measures

            The Department of Consumer Affairs has started a scheme of “Strengthening of Legal Metrology wing of the States and Union Territories in the country” at a cost of Rs. 24.72 crore for strengthening State enforcement machinery.  Two bills for amending the Weights and Measures Act had been introduced in Rajya Sabha.  The Bills contain many proposals to make the system more transparent, outsourcing of verification activities of the sophisticated Weights and Measures and for uniform enforcement across the country.  Rules have been amended to incorporate new specification of Standard weights for testing higher capacity weighing machines, Sphygmomanometer (Blood Pressure measuring instruments) and CNG gas dispensers.

Commodity Futures Trading

            Futures trading is permitted in 103 commodities at present which is being carried on through three national level exchanges besides 21 regional exchanges recognized for Commodity Futures Trading.  During 2005-06, permission to trade in Furnace Oil, Crude Oil, Mentha Oil, PVC, Polypropylene and Natural Gas was granted.

            The total value of commodity futures trade was Rs. 21.34 lakh crore in 2005-06, as compared to Rs. 5.71 lakh crore during 2004-05, showing an increase of 274 per cent.  The volume of trade has also gone up to 6,685 lakh tonnes during 2005-06, as compared to 1942 lakh tonnes during 2004-05, marking an increase of 244 per cent.

The Department has proposed amendments in the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act 1952 in order to include new features that are in tune with the latest developments in commodity futures market.  Accordingly, Forward Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill has been introduced in Lok Sabha in March 2006.

DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

            The Scheme of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) for supplying highly subsidised foodgrains to the poorest of the poor in the country has been expanded to cover 2.5  crore households in line with the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP). With this, 38 per cent of the BPL section have been brought under AAY.

To ensure improved foodgrains availability of good quality and cater to local taste, State governments have been encouraged to take up procurement of foodgrains under the decentralised procurement scheme, and so far, ten States and UT have implemented the scheme comprising non-traditional States like Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Tamil Nadu  West Bengal and  Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

            A Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Grain Banks is being implemented by the Department in tribal villages with the main objective of providing safeguard against starvation during natural calamity or lean season.  The Grain Banks will be set up in food scarce areas like drought prone areas, the hot and cold desert areas, tribal and inaccessible hilly areas.  A provision of Rs. 20.2 crore was made by the Planning Commission for the year 2005-06, for the establishment of 3,282 grain banks in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tripura and Meghalaya.  In the current financial year Rs. 50 crore is provided for this purpose.

In order to improve the Warehousing System, the Department is considering the implementation of a National Policy on Bulk Handling, Storage and Transportation of Foodgrains. An action plan for introduction of Negotiable Warehouse Receipt System to increase liquidity in rural areas through banking sector is also under consideration.

SUGAR SECTOR

            In order to make sugar industry viable by utilization of its by products like bagasse and molasses, amendments were made in the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) Rules to provide loans for setting up projects for utilization of by products.   The SDF loan component in the total funding of such projects has increased from 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the project cost for bagasse based co-generation power plants set up by sugar factories.  For setting up plants for production of ethanol from molasses, loans are provided from SDF up to 40 per cent of the project costs.  During the last two years an amount of Rs. 36 crore has been reimbursed as SDF loans for cane development.

            The Central Government has fixed the Statutory Minimum Price  (SMP) of Sugarcane for the season 2005-06 at Rs. 79.5 per quintal as against Rs. 74.5 per quintal in the previous seasons.

            There was considerable improvement in the payment of sugarcane price arrears to farmers in the last two years.  The total cane price arrears for the last sugar season, 2004-05 have almost been cleared.  As against the total cane price payable of Rs. 12,981.27 crore, an amount of Rs. 12,972.7 crore has been paid.  For the current sugar season 2005-06,  as against the total cane price payable of Rs. 16,934.63 crore an amount of Rs. 16,212.68 crore has already been paid and the arrears are 4.26 per cent.

 

 

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