Helpline number and website for NE consumers released
By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Jan 19: A special 24x7 toll-free helpline number ‘1800-11-4424’ and a website ‘www.consumerconexion.org’, for the Northeast were launched in the regiol conference of leading consumer organizations of the country by Consumer Online Foundation (COF) at NEDFi auditorium of the city today.
While launching the toll-free number and website, the chief guest, Secretary to the Government of India for Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), veen Verma said: “We consider that four pillars of services and their respective delivery mechanism are the key factors for determining the success of various developmental programmes from the view point of the users. The first pillar is consumer education and consumer redressal mechanism, the second is delivery of the health related services, including safe food and access to quality healthcare, third is to conduct the business in the state with focus on small and medium enterprises for developing appropriate skills, technology and innovation and the fourth is accessibility and connectivity for ensuring fast and efficient delivery of public services and governce through digitalization and use of IT, as well as strengthening the infrastructure for physical means of connectivity like roads and rail transport for ensuring better communication both within and outside the region.”
COF founder Bijon Mishra said in the programme: “Government of India is fully aware of the special problems faced by the North Eastern States, both due to their geographical location, cultural differences, as well as problems relating to accessibility and infrastructure and others. The consumer organizations feel that serious interventions on consumer education and awareness are the only solution to rapid development in this regard. We, therefore, have organized the conference to ascertain the user’s perspective, relating to the various areas of development and to understand the potential for better implementation of the development programmes in the North Eastern Region. We are also going to declare the most consumer friendly state of the country to spread the awareness on consumer education on March 15, which would be filized after a year-long survey on the same.”
The event was attended by Maging Director of NEDFi B. Paul Muktieh, member of FICCI Task Force on Direct Selling John Khiangte, Central Drug Testing Laboratory director Partha Gogoi, Judicial Member of the Assam State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission Dilip Mahanta and many other prominent experts and citizens from the eight North Eastern States.