Shillong: Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister and Chairman of the State Consumer Protection Council, Comingone Ymbon Friday chaired the meeting of the State Consumer Protection Council at the Main Conference Hall, Main Secretariat Building, Shillong, attended by members of the council including MLAs, Rupert Momin, Santa Mary Shylla, and Damanbait Lamare and other officials. Â
Pravin Bakshi, Commissioner & Secretary Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department welcomed all the dignitaries and summarized the purpose and agenda of the meeting.
He informed that the meeting was held to assess various initiatives undertaken by the department like the Price Monitoring System (PMS), Monitoring of prices of 22 essential commodities to give advance feedback for taking appropriate policy interventions to ensure the availability of essential commodities and keep their prices under control, at the district and sub-divisions level the Price Monitoring Vigilance Committee submitted a quarterly report, the CONFONET, e-Daakhil portal.
The meeting also discussed the illegal smuggling of sugar along the Indo-Bangladesh border in which the department has instructed all the Districts/Sub-Divisions to communicate and coordinate with the Border Security Force (BSF) and relevant departments accordingly to prevent such illegal activities and to prevent sugar inflation.
Ensuring stringent quality check mechanisms for the distribution of quality foodgrains to the citizens and conducting consumer awareness programmes and Aadhaar enrolment camps are some of the topics which were discussed. The meeting also addressed the issue of fortified rice and its awareness and suggested a regular inspection of petrol pumps regarding complaints against fuel adulteration.
The Minister urged the officials to have a robust mechanism to conduct consumer awareness programmes, sensitization on consumer rights at the district and state level. He also instructed at the district level to involve Self Help Groups in spreading awareness to the people at the grass root level.
