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Making children aware of malpractice

BERHAMPUR: The food and civil supplies department in Orissa plans to publish and distribute a book among schoolchildren to create awareness about malpractices in weights and measures.

Similar efforts are already on in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. The Controller of Legal Metrology is monitoring the publication of this book, which would be colourful and picture-based. This book would also be distributed to the people in rural areas through the Panchayat Raj department. The Orissa unit of the All-India Legal Metrology Officers’ Association requested the State Government to create consumer awareness about discrepancies and deception in weights and measures by unscrupulous traders.

The need for this awareness has increased as the price of all commodities is on the rise. Minor discrepancies in weight can mean a monetary loss for a customer. When the price of urad dal is more than 80 rupees per kilo, an aberrance of fifty grams during weighing one kilogram through a deceptive balance can mean much gain for a deceptive trader during a day and monetary loss for the customer.

The officials of the metrology department say usually the customers, due to their ignorance about simple facts of weights and measures, get conned by the traders. The places where they get deceived can range from vegetable market, grocery shops to jewellery shops. Senior inspector of legal metrology department posted in Berhampur Sarbeswar

Pradhan said it was the duty of a customer to check the ‘weights’ available with a shopkeeper whenever there was any doubt. It is mandatory for every trader to get the weights checked and rectified every year. A lead seal behind the weights describes period of rectification of the weights.

Usually the cheaters take out these seals, grind up the weights so that they may weigh less. In case of a pan balance simple changes in fulcrum positioning or length of strings connecting the pan can lead to huge differences during weighing.

The metrology officials say if the customers only show up that they are vigilant most unscrupulous traders become panicky and refrain from the practice. According to Mr Pradhan people still think in terms of old non-standardised measuring systems like tola, ser, mana etc., which leads to their deception.

To check cheating in jewellery shops, the department had held a camp to check all weighing machines in jewellery shops in Bada Bazar area of the city in June. They urge the customers not to be deceived by the idea that electronic weighing machines are foolproof. It is the duty of any electronic weighing machine user to keep weights so that a customer could check the authenticity of measurements of the machine.

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