Top activist urges more executive teeth for consumer fora

The measures suggested by Joshi aims to ensure that an order passed by state- or district-level forums is implemented by the offending firm. As of now, there exists no agency or machinery at the disposal of a consumer forum to execute its quasi-judicial order in letter and spirit, Joshi said.

One of the more prominent consumer activists in the country, Joshi, it may be recalled, is reputed to have forced the Centre to draft a comprehensive legislation for the protection of the consumers.

Focussing on another important point, Joshi said that, unlike civil courts, the heads of the district fora orthe president of the state-level consumer commissions did not have powers to grant a stay following a complaint lodged by a consumer. For instance, Joshi elaborated, if a complaint is lodged about the poor quality of a food product in the market, the head of the consumer forum is not empowered to grant stay on its sale.

Joshi said Maharashtra is the first state in the country to constitute district-level fora in all its districts with full strength. 8220;During appointments, we have ensured that not a single politician has been appointed either chairman or member of the forum. We have taken affidavits from the members ratifying their apolitical background,8221; Joshi said.

Joshi said the HCPC would meet in the first week of March to discuss laws governing the textile industry, status of rural hospital and medical shops and transport services in the State.

Most textile manufacturers, the Council chief pointed out, were conveniently flouting laws governing quality. He painted a grim picture of rural healthscenario. Rural folk, he said, were suffering despite budgetary allocations for health services, obviously alluding to the siphoning off of public money.

Lack of Government guidelines was also letting entrepreneurs have a field day in the transport sector after privatisation, Joshi rued.