‘Consumer is the king’
RAJIV AGARWAL,
a 1975 batch IAS officer, is in charge of handling the affairs of the
Department of Consumer Affairs. His Department is looking after Consumer
Courts, Standards, Legal Metrology and the Futures Markets. Management
of pulses is also the responsibility of this Department. Helping in this
task is his degree in law besides his Masters in Physics. Agarwal has a
long experience in agro industries and the cooperatives sector, having
served as the CEO of Maharashtra Agro Industries Development
Corporation, Commissioner of Sugar and Secretary in Maharashtra. He has
also held the job of Managing Director, National Cooperative Development
Corporation, a financial institution serving the needs of cooperatives
in India. He was also Collector of Ahmednagar and Raigad Districts, and
Municipal Commissioner of Nasik and Pune. In addition, in his long
career, he has worked as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs
in-charge of the North-Eastern Region and Additional Secretary,
Department of Justice. Here, he explains how the Department of Consumer
Affairs is focussed on consumer protection and empowerment.
interviewed by Anil Tyagi and Dr GS Sood
gfiles:
The country is celebrating 25 years of the consumer movement. How has
the movement progressed and what has been the role of your ministry? Are
you happy with the present state of affairs as seen from the point of
view of fulfilling the aspirations that consumers have from your
ministry?
Rajiv Agarwal:This
ministry is known as the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public
Distribution. It has two distinct departments, one being Consumer
Affairs and the other Food and Public Distribution. The work of the Food
and Public Distribution department is obviously much more loaded
because they have to ensure food security for all people. The Consumer
Affairs department is basically for the welfare of the consumers.
Anybody who consumes some products or services is a consumer. There are
three or four major areas this Department is actively working in. One,
of course, is the Consumer Protection Act, which was enacted in 1986 on
the recommendations of a UN committee. This is actually based on what is
known as common law in the English legal system, where they have the
law of torts. ‘Torts’, as you are aware, is basically an actionable
civil law. In India, the law of torts has traditionally been very weak
and not many people go to courts seeking compensation under it. So, the
Act has in fact formalised some areas of the law of torts for aggrieved
consumers. ......READMORE : http://www.gfilesindia.com
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