The Hindu : Consumer fora await filling of vacancies

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 18, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Consumer fora await filling of vacancies

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, JAN. 17. In the absence of presiding officers for the last 45 days, 350 cases are pending before the Coimbatore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum and 100 cases before the Nilgiris District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum.

A president and two members are a must for conducting sittings at every consumer disputes redressal fora. Consumer fora were unable to dispose of cases at a faster pace due to vacant posts, consumer activists pointed out. Following the retirement of S. Shanmugam, the president of the Coimbatore District Consumer Forum on November 19, 2003, sittings were not held. Even the nomination of Mr. Shanmugam, as president came very late after the retirement of his predecessor. He was holding additional charge of the Nilgiris forum as well as it had no president for quite some time.

As a result, advocates and consumer activists are not showing interest in filing cases before the consumer fora. In Coimbatore alone, more than 25 cases could not be numbered for want of the president. The secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, K. Kathirmathiyon, pointed out that Coimbatore and the Nilgiris were not just isolated cases; there were a few more districts where the functioning of these fora remained disrupted for quite sometime awaiting the posting of either a member or a president.

With the terms of tenure of the president spelt clearly in the appointment order ie., either 65 years of age or five years of service (whichever is earlier), the Government should have in place, a system by which the successors could be decided well in time.

The Government should ensure that it had a panel of eligible candidates ready for appointment as members and presidents of consumer fora. He said that the CCC had already written to the Ministry and the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection of the State in this regard.

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