GUWAHATI, March 15 - On the occasion of World Consumer Rights Day, the Consumers� Legal Protection Forum (CLPF) organised a public meeting-cum-awareness programme in collaboration with BRM Govt Law College, Guwahati in the college premises today to create awareness among the student community and common people about consumer rights and laws.
This year, the theme of World Consumer Rights Day is: �Trusted Smart Products�. Speaking on the theme, Arindom Borah of CLPF stated that globally, there are currently 23.1 billion smart products in the world, outnumbering people three to one. As more people come online across the world and people�s connection to the internet becomes better and faster, smart products will become more of a day-to-day reality for consumers everywhere, marking a major change in the way many consumers interact with products and services. The emergence of smart technology brings many opportunities for consumers, access to new services, more responsive products, greater convenience and choice.
There are, however, some significant causes for concern: lack of security, privacy and meaningful choice over how people use them, as well as a lack of clarity about who is responsible when things go wrong. There are also issues around lack of access, with millions of people globally locked out of this new technology by overly high data charges.
Dr Bhupesh Malla Buzarbaruah, Principal of BRM Govt Law College and Amar Jyoti Sarmah, guest faculty of BRM Govt Law College were also present in the programme as guests and laid emphasis on implementation of the existing consumer laws in the real sense and creation of awareness among the common consumers about their rights.
Anti-tobacco Movement: Meanwhile, at the same programme, as a special insight into CLPF�s Anti-Tobacco Movement, Hridaya Pankaj Das of the organisation informed that according to the GATS-2 (Global Adult Tobacco Survey) report, 48.2 per cent of adults in Assam consume tobacco in some form or the other out of whom 62.9 per cent constitute male members and 32.9 per cent female. Assam has shown a significant rise of 9 per cent in overall tobacco consumption from 39.3 per cent during the last survey in 2009-10 to 48.2 per cent now, compared to 6 per cent decline in the national average.
The students who attended the awareness programme also took part in an open house discussion.
