Since 2002, the Goa Civic and Consumer Action Network (GOACAN) has been very active in taking the consumer rights movement forward in Goa especially through Consumer Welfare Clubs (CWC) in over 130 educational institutions. The simple definition of a consumer rights is that every consumer has the right to have information about the quality, potency, quantity, purity, price and standard of goods or services. The information is important for the consumer to be protected against any unfair practices of trade.
Roland Martins, Convenor of GOACAN, works closely with children and youngsters as they are the future global consumers. His team leaves no stone unturned to reach out to the schools and get the children aware of their rights. Consumer Welfare Clubs of the high schools and the higher secondary schools and the Consumer Welfare Cells of colleges got a shot in the arm with the recently held training programmes organised by GIPARD in collaboration with the Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (DCSCA). The two day programme which provided the CWC Co-ordinators with inputs on the Consumer Protection Act 2019, the Legal Metrology Act 2009 and Packaged Commodities Rules 2011, the Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 and the Eat Right India Movement saw the teachers and lecturers engaged in vibrant discussion with the resource persons.
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“The recent active participation of the college students in the GOACAN campaign on Road Safety, keeping in the mind the Consumers’ Right to Safety, has been very encouraging. Checking for fake helmets being sold and advocating the use of ISI marked helmets among road users has been a plus point. The CWC of V M Salgaocar College of Law, Dhempe College of Arts and Science and Goa College of Home Science, have already taken the lead in Panjim,” says Roland.
The training programme also provided the CWC Co-ordinators an opportunity to share their campus level activities and the challenges they face in creating awareness among the students. The highlight of the programme was the group discussions and the Action Plans for the forthcoming Academic Year 2023-24. There were proposals drawn up on Consumer awareness linked to Road Safety, Health and Sanitation, Waste Management as well as on Food Safety, use of ISI marked goods and the safe use of domestic LPG cylinders.
“As the programme was organised at the District level, the teachers and lecturers were able examine the possibility of joint campaigns across the talukas using street plays, household surveys, market visits, and even rallies on important days like the State Consumer Rights Day on June 25. There was also a plan drawn up to use the CWC Complaint Box and the CWC Noticeboard in a special way on Consumer Literacy Day on September 8, so as to take it a step ahead by getting the students to ‘Read their Rights’ and ‘Write their Complaints’,” says Roland.
He further adds, “Now the students are standing up for their consumer rights in the buses they travel in and even in the super markets they visit. They have started sending in complaints about online frauds as well. We are very optimistic about the response we will get in 2023-24 academic year from the students of the over 130 CWCs spread over the schools, HSS and colleges of Goa.”
Students of St Francis Xavier Higher Secondary School, Siolim are very enthusiastic to be part of programmes organised by the Consumer Welfare Club. In this academic year, the school organised a food festival by the Consumer Welfare Club, Health and Nutrition Club and the Entrepreneurship Club for the school students, parents and staff members. An inter-class cooking and traditional costume competition was also held on that day.
Sandhya Fernandes teaches Secretarial Practice for Commerce students and is the coordinator for the HSS’s CWC. “We will have a talk by the Department Of Legal Metrology on weights and measures. Apart from that the students are also very active with the Eat Right Movement focusing on food and nutrition. Children are aware of their rights but there is a long way to go for redressing problems. We also take the students for Consumer Shoppes and Lokutsav where they work on a questionnaire speaking to the vendors and even questioning the garbage created after the exhibition and its correct disposal. During the annual Plant Fest at the St Francis Xavier’s School, Siolim, the students also make their own cloth bags with creative environment related taglines,” says Sandhya, who also organised Road Safety Day and No Tobacco Day for the students.
Siddhi Parsekar, a Civics lecturer at Dhempe College of Arts and Science, Miramar feels that there are many people in society who are not aware of their rights which makes either get duped or overlook a problem that could have been solved. “If there is no awareness, one will not be able to help others too. There are many methods of creating awareness including social media and at the college level, though various competitions and continuous talks and sessions. As the students are currently busy with their studies and it is almost the end of this academic year, we will be planning for programmes in the coming academic year. Students are the flag bearers of the society and teachers also can get inspired as they deal with much more students,” concludes Siddi.
