Ref. : ER/03/House/dG

Hundreds of visitors, including parents, teachers and students, thronged Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, on Saturday, scheduled for an Open House as part of the organisation’s week-long Silver Jubilee.

The Open House offered them an opportunity to acquaint themselves not only with the country’s largest consumer organisation but also with the various tools and techniques of consumer education, protection and empowerment. Of special interest to the visitors was the organisation’s in-house comparative testing laboratory for consumer products, the only one of its kind in Asia, barring Japan. The laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment tests consumer products as per Indian Standards and nationally publicises the findings along with brand names for consumer information and empowerment.

The various events organised during the Open House included tour round the CERC campus, free counselling and guidance on consumer complaints as well as legal advice, video shows, free counselling for tobacco de-addiction, exhibition-cum-demonstration stalls set up by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Weights and Measures Department, the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), Ahmedabad Electricity Company (AEC), etc. CERC publications were on display and Book Bay installed a stall on the campus.

At least 700 students from different schools in the city and Gandhinagar poured in group by group since morning, leading to long serpentine queues outside the CERC premises, each group waiting patiently for its turn. The schools included Udgam, St. Kabir, Hiramani, Eklavya, BWT, AWAG, Chimanbhai Institute of Business Administration, etc.

The students by and large were thrilled to see and know the various aspects of comparative testing and the need for it, the frauds played on consumers through underweight, false ISI marks, adulterated products, unsafe products, etc. and the growing need for consumer awareness.

The teachers expressed the desire that more such visits should be arranged to disseminate the message of consumer protection and sensitise the citizens of tomorrow.

CERC also organised a children’s painting competition for three age groups between 6 and 14 years. Over 125 students from several city schools participated in the competition. The themes for the three age groups were : ‘Save Water’, ‘A Healthy Meal/Save Environment’ and ‘Ads That Mislead You’.

Date : 23/08/2003
Place : Ahmedabad

Pritee Shah
Editor
INSIGHT- The Consumer Magazine

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Opinions, test results and research findings issued through this Press Release cannot be used in any form directly or indirectly for advertising, promotional or commercial purpose.

CONSUMER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTRE
“Suraksha Sankool”, Thaltej, Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway,
Ahmedabad- 380 054 (INDIA)
Phone: 079-7489945-46 Fax: 079-7489947
E-mail: cerc@wilnetonline.net
Web Site: http://www.cercindia.org
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