Prof. Manubhai Shah On Consumer Protection Working Group Of The Planning Commission

Ref. : press/’06/yojana.mds/dg/26

Prof. Manubhai Shah, Chairman Emeritus, Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, has been named a Member of the Working Group on Consumer Protection, set up by the Government of India in the context of the formulation of the Eleventh Five-year Plan (2007-2012). The Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, will be Chairman of the 28-Member Group, which is expected to submit its report within three months.

The terms of reference of the Working Group will be to

- recommend a comprehensive set of policies, programmes and action plan to launch a strong paradigm for consumer protection covering, among other things, consumer rights to awareness, education and redressal of grievances and quality infrastructure and standardisation;

- identify areas requiring Government intervention and suggest ways and means to enhance responsiveness of the private sector to consumers; and

- assess the resource requirements and manner of financing, including PPP models in the Eleventh Five-year Plan.

The Chairman of the Working Group may include additional terms of reference in consultation with the Member (Industry), Planning Commission, who is Chairman of the Steering Committee concerned.

The Group includes as Members, among others, the Additional Secretary and the Senior Economic Adviser, Department of Consumer Affairs, the Director General of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), and the Chairman of the Forward Market Commission.

Also on the Working Group are representatives of the Planning Commission, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, the Ministries of Health, Food Processing Industries, Information and Broadcasting, Directorate of Audio-Visual Publicity (DAVP), the Competition Commission of India, and those of the Governments of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Sikkim.

The Chairman of the Working Group may co-opt any other expert as Member of the Group.

Date : 28/06/2006                                    Pritee Shah
Place: Ahmedabad                                    Editor                                                                                                                       Insight-The Consumer Magazine

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