Lok Sabha Question No. 3206 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-21
Subject: Consumer Protection Council
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY, ALOK SANJAR

## Government of India Department of Consumer Affairs

## ORIGINAL IN HINDI

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3206

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2017

## CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL

3206.  SHRI RAM TAHAL CHOUDHARY: SHRI ALOK SANJAR:

(OIH)

Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC  DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the task assigned to the Consumer Protection Council in the country;
- (b) whether it is a fact that many States have not set up the council as yet, if so, whether action has been taken by the Government in this regard, so as to establish such councils in these States;
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) the  number  of  institutions  working  for  consumer  right  protection  and  the  total  financial assistance provided to these institutions during the last year;
- (e) the laid-down procedure to assess the performance of these institutions; and
- (f) whether there is a need to set up mobile PDS system, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) :   The Central Consumer Protection Council, State Consumer Protection Council and District Consumer  Protection  Council,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Consumer  Protection  Act,  1986,  are  to ensure  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  the  consumer  at  the  National,  State  and  District  level.  These councils advise the Central Government, State Government and the District Authorities respectively to take action on issues relating to the rights of the consumers.
- (b)&(c) :   As per the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, it is the responsibility of the State  Government  to  set  up  State  Consumer  Protection  Council  in  the  States.  As  per  available information (status at Annexure - I ). 23 States/UTs have established Consumer Protection Councils. The Central Government have issued a number of advisories to set up such councils. Besides, the State Governments are sensitised about the need to set up such councils, in the National Conferences and Regional Conferences, whenever held.
- (d)&(e) : A list of Institutions/VCOs/organizations to whom grant have been given from Consumer Welfare Fund during last one year is at Annexure -II . The performance of these Institutions/VCOs/organizations are monitored in the Department through periodic reports and various meeting held from time to time.

(f) :  Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State/Union Territory (UT) Governments wherein operational responsibilities for allocation  of  foodgrains  within  the  States/UTs,  identification  of  eligible  beneficiaries,  issuance  of ration cards to them and supervision over and monitoring of functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) rest  with  the  concerned  State/UT  Governments.  Under  the  guidelines  issued  by  the  Department  for strengthening of PDS, States/UTs are to ensure that no consumer/card holder has to travel more than 3 kms to reach his  FPS.  As  per  the  guidelines,  in  areas  which  cannot  be  covered  by  static  fair  price shops,  mobile  vans  may  be  introduced  to  cover  the  consumers  residing  in  hilly  remote,  far-flung, desert, tribal and inaccessible areas. The guidelines include provision of sales centre at weekly Haats to provide essential commodities at fixed price in some rural areas, particularly in Tribal Areas which will be a great boon to consumers of these areas.

The  Targets  Public  Distribution  System  (Control)  Order,  2015  notified  on  20.03.2015 requires the State Government to ensure that the FPS is so located that the consumer or ration card holder does not have to face difficuly to reach the FPS and that proper coverage is ensured in hilly, desert, tribal and such other areas difficult to access.

*****

## ANNEXURE-I

## STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (b) & (c) OF  LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3206 FOR 21.03.2017 REGARDING CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL.

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|   Sl. No. | Name of States    | SCPCs               |
|-----------|-------------------|---------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh    | Constituted.        |
|         2 | Arunachal Pradesh | Constituted.        |
|         3 | Goa               | Constituted         |
|         4 | Himachal Pradesh  | Constituted.        |
|         5 | Karnataka         | Constituted.        |
|         6 | Kerala            | Constituted.        |
|         7 | Maharashtra       | Constituted.        |
|         8 | Mizoram           | Constituted.        |
|         9 | Nagaland          | Constituted.        |
|        10 | Odisha            | Constituted.        |
|        11 | Punjab            | Constituted.        |
|        12 | Rajasthan         | Constituted.        |
|        13 | Sikkim            | Constituted.        |
|        14 | Tripura           | Constituted.        |
|        15 | Uttar Pradesh     | Constituted.        |
|        16 | West Bengal       | Constituted.        |
|        17 | Jharkhand         | Constituted         |
|        18 | Madhya Pradesh    | Constituted         |
|        19 | Tamil Nadu        | Constituted         |
|        20 | Gujarat           | Under Process       |
|        21 | Telangana         | Under Process       |
|        22 | Bihar             | Not Constituted.    |
|        23 | Assam             | Information awaited |
|        24 | Chhattisgarh      | Information awaited |
|        25 | Haryana           | Information awaited |
|        26 | Jammu &Kashmir    | Information awaited |
|        27 | Manipur           | Information awaited |
|        28 | Meghalaya         | Information awaited |
|        29 | Uttrakhand        | Information awaited |

|   Sl. No. | Name of UTs   | SCPCs                   |
|-----------|---------------|-------------------------|
|         1 | A&N Islands   | Constituted.            |
|         2 | Constituted   | Daman &Diu              |
|         3 |               | Lakshadweep Constituted |
|         4 |               | Chandigarh Constituted  |
|         5 | D &NHaveli    | Information awaited     |
|         6 | Pondicherry   | Information awaited     |
|         7 | Delhi         | Under Process           |

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (d)  &  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3206 FOR 21.03.2017 REGARDING CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL.

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## Consumer Welfare Fund (CWF) Grants released during Financial Year 2015-2016

| S. No.           | Name of Grantee Organizations                                      | Amount of Release in (Rs.)   |
|------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| INSTITUTIONS     | INSTITUTIONS                                                       | INSTITUTIONS                 |
| 1                | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 5000                         |
| 2                | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 5000                         |
| 3                | IIPA, CCS, New Delhi                                               | 3500000                      |
| 4                | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 5000                         |
| 5                | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 10000                        |
| 6                | NLSIU, Bangalore, Karnataka                                        | 5000000                      |
| 7                | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 10000                        |
| 8                | IIPA, CCS, New Delhi                                               | 12112000                     |
| 9                | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 10000                        |
| 10               | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 5000                         |
| 11               | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 10000                        |
| 12               | IIPA, SCHKRMP, New Delhi                                           | 955174                       |
| 13               | IIPA, Karnataka                                                    | 1000000                      |
| 14               | NCDRC, New Delhi                                                   | 5000                         |
| 15               | NIFM, Faridabad                                                    | 400000                       |
| STATE GOVERNMENT | STATE GOVERNMENT                                                   | STATE GOVERNMENT             |
| 1                | Govt. of Haryana                                                   | 30000000                     |
| 2                | Govt. of Andhra Pradesh                                            | 10000000                     |
| 3                | Govt. of Nagaland                                                  | 10000000                     |
| 4                | Govt. of Haryana                                                   | 18600000                     |
| VCOs             | VCOs                                                               | VCOs                         |
| 1                | Mumbai Grahak Panchayat,Mumbai                                     | 60000                        |
| 2                | CONCERT,Chennai, Tamilnadu                                         | 500000                       |
| 3                | Federation of Indian Electronic Commererce& Industry(FIECI),Delhi. | 280000                       |
| 4                | Raghavendra Trust for Education &Environment Action, Karnataka     | 450000                       |
| 5                | SAVERA, New Delhi, (GSK)                                           | 2350000                      |
| 6                | M/s. Karshan Technologies, New Delhi                               | 2350000                      |
| 7                | Consumer Coodination Council, U.P.                                 | 1500000                      |
| 8                | CERC, Gujarat (GSK)                                                | 2350000                      |
| 9                | CERC, Gujarat (insight magazine)                                   | 2000000                      |
| 10               | Manipur Women Coordination Council, (MWCC), Imphal, Manipur        | 500000                       |
| 11               | Nari Mangal Mahila Samity, Odisha                                  | 500000                       |
| 12               | CUTs, Jaipur, Rajasthan (GSK)                                      | 2350000                      |
| 13               | Bhavishya, West Bengal (GSK)                                       | 2350000                      |
| 14               | NALSAR, Hyderabad, Telangana                                       | 10000000                     |
| 15               | CUTs, Jaipur, Rajasthan                                            | 1000000                      |
| 16               | Advertising Standards Council of India, (ASCI), Mumbai             | 500000                       |
| 17               | CERC, Gujarat                                                      | 1700000                      |
| 18               | CONCERT, Chennai                                                   | 2404000                      |
| 19               | Consumer Coodination Council, U.P.                                 | 250000                       |
| 20               | SAVERA, New Delhi                                                  | 260000                       |
| 21               | Karshan Technologies, New Delhi                                    | 260000                       |
| 22               | CUTS, Jaipur                                                       | 260000                       |
| 23               | CERC, Gujarat                                                      | 260000                       |
| 24               | Bhavishya, West Bengal                                             | 260000                       |