SPECIAL ADDRESS OF PROF. K.V. THOMAS, HON’BLE
MINISTER OF STATE (I/C) OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION AS
THE CHIEF GUEST AT THE NATIONAL CONSUMER RIGHTS WEEK CELEBRATION BY FICCI
COMMITTEE AGAINST SMUGGLING AND COUNTERFEITING ACTIVITIES DESTROYING THE
ECONOMY (CASCADE) IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD
AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION ON THRUSDAY, THE 20TH DECEMBER, 2012 AT
FICCI FEDERATION HOUSE, NEW DELHI.
Ms.
Naina Lal Kidwai, President, FICCI, Dr. A. Didar Singh, Secretary General,
FICCI, Shri Pankaj Agrawala, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs,
Government of India, eminent experts, civil society members, the business
community representatives, distinguished guests, friends from the media, ladies
and gentlemen:
2. First of all, I wish to thank the
FICCI for celebrating the National Consumer Rights Week through panel
discussions, involvement of students for creating awareness among them on
consumer rights and also for their particular focus on the issues of smuggling
and counterfeiting activities destroying the national economy and their impact
on consumer rights. I congratulate the
FICCI on their proactive efforts in empowering the consumers, because
Government alone may not be able to assure a vibrant consumer movement, and it
is only through private and voluntary initiatives such as this one that the
Government can ensure that the consumer is made aware of his rights and
responsibilities.
3. All
of you would agree with me that in a country like ours, the success of the
consumer movement would depend largely upon sustained consumer awareness and in
making consumers vigilant about their rights and responsibilities. Our society gets guided by the market
force. The transition is predominantly
from ‘sellers’ market’ to a ‘buyers’ market’ where choice exercised by consumer
is influenced by the level of consumer awareness achieved. I would like
to begin by stressing on one important point – that of ‘consumer protection,’
as a significant issue contributing to the economic growth of a country. A market that is highly competitive is of
utmost importance for the healthy growth of economy and is beneficial to the
consumer in that the consumer has a wide variety of products to choose
from. such a competitive market in a
fast developing country like ours is also prone to spurious goods and inferior
services entering the market place to cheat the unsuspecting and ill-informed
consumers. Therefore, protection of consumer interests becomes a
moral responsibility of the State. This
can only be accomplished through setting up quality specifications and safety
compliances for goods and services and by establishing proper, effective and
easily accessible mechanisms to redress grievances of the consumer. Amongst the various efforts undertaken, consumer information and
education will remain the two most important areas of concentration as they are
the most effective means to counter the unscrupulous designs and malpractices
of the market. Consumer education is a
life-long education to contribute to basic survival needs of all age groups.
But among the consumers, the disadvantaged groups, particularly vulnerable to
the economic and social inequalities, the low-income earners, the unemployed,
the differently-abled, the immigrant work force – all they need our special
attention. “Jago Grahak Jago” is an innovative attempt at reaching
these very segments of the society through the media, especially the electronic
media.
4. Completion of 25 years of implementation of Consumer
Protection Act provides us with an opportunity to assess what has been achieved
and what still needs to be done. A
range of reforms in the Consumer Protection Act has been proposed by the
Ministry of Consumer Affairs that will have an effect on the laws administered
by the States. These changes will
further benefit the consumers and speed up the grievance-redressing processes.
5. Now,
coming to your focus on smuggling and counterfeiting activities destroying our
economy, if I may recall, I did participate in a campaign of FICCI in May, 2012
which was against smuggling and counterfeiting – then too, you involved
children in your campaign. When children are made aware of the ill-effects of smuggling
and counterfeiting activities on the economy, this will have a deep impact, as
children symbolize the future of a country.
Counterfeit and pirated products are being produced and consumed in
virtually all economies, with Asia emerging as the single largest producing
region – the reason being their availability at cheaper rates. The effects of counterfeiting and piracy are more
pronounced in developing economies. The causes for its
proliferation may be traced to certain facts such the transfer of world's
manufacturing industries to third world countries, the growth witnessed in
internet e-commerce sales, and the fact that consumers, seeking out lower-cost
items leading to counterfeit articles.
Another great cause of concern to governance is that profits of counterfeiting are known to bolster organized
crime and terrorist groups who pose a real threat to security in developed and
developing countries alike.
6. Fundamentally,
counterfeiting hinders long term economic development. Economy-wise, counterfeiting and piracy also undermine
innovation, which is important to economic growth. The market for counterfeit and pirated
products can be divided into two important sub-markets. In the primary
market, consumers purchase counterfeit and pirated products believing they
have purchased genuine articles. In the secondary market, consumers
looking for what they believe to be bargains knowingly buy counterfeit and
pirated products. The policies and measures to combat counterfeiting and piracy
in the two markets differ; it is therefore important to know how much of a
threat each poses when considering product specific strategies.
7. I hope this initiative of FICCI, as the largest and the
oldest apex organization of Indian business and a leader in policy thinking and
change in Indian industry, will
go a long way in creating awareness among the consumers on the hazards of
purchasing fake products and create more interaction with enforcement
authorities. That FICCI have assembled
children here to pass on the message on counterfeiting and piracy is quite apt
and symbolic of their efforts in joining government agencies to create an
awareness among the consumers on the ill-effects of these evils so that
consumers become informed when it comes choosing the right product at the right
price. I congratulate the FICCI on their
appreciable endeavour and hope our collective efforts will result in a vibrant
economy which will lead to the nation prospering crossing all hurdles.
THANK YOU.
