MARGAO: The ongoing Saras exhibition in Margao has come under scrutiny after the Legal Metrology Department conducted a raid following a complaint by NGO GOACAN. The Department found several fake items being exhibited and has imposed fines on the violators. Among the goods found were choppers and massagers, as well as packed items without mandatory details.
GOACAN representative Roland Martins has expressed concern about the presence of unauthorised traders in the exhibition, stating that such events are meant to promote self-help groups, not fake traders. Martin had received complaints from people about the exhibition’s violation of rules and regulations. “When we checked, we found a few traders who were caught violating the laws in the past, selling massagers etc. I cannot understand how fake people managed to get stalls in Saras, which are meant for SHGs,” he said.
Martins suggested that prime spots at the exhibition should be given to self-help groups of various talukas, with three stalls set up for the Food and Drugs Administration, Legal Metrology, and Civil Supplies Departments to raise awareness about the rules among self-help groups.
“Saras should be
promoting and marketing the goods of self-help groups and not for entertainment,” Martins said.
