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Members and LL.B students of Kohima Law College, pictured here, conducted a seminar on Sep. 24 at Pfutsero in Phek district, educating people there about their consumer rights.[/caption]
Dimapur, Sep. 29 (EMN): A seminar advocating consumer rights and the environment besides related issues of food safety, street vendors, food security and Human Rights, was conducted on Sep. 24 at the Pfutsero government college in Pfutsero of Phek district.
The Nagaland Voluntary Consumer Organisation (NVCO) issued a press release to the media on Sunday giving updates about the event.
The resource persons for the event were LL.B final students of Kohima Law College namely Vikehienuo Vimerha, R Wonchibeni Tsangalo, P Zuhing, Vikhozolie and Dieku Chakhesang led by their assistant professor Kezhokhoto Savi, also the president of the NVCO.
The gathering was given a discourse about various topics concerning illegal economic practices, which the updates said cause price rise in the market. The victims are the consumers, they were told. The students were urged to stand up against extortion and other illegal practices including ‘illegal collections of taxes’ especially at check-gates and along highways.
A judgement of the Kohima bench of the Gauhati High Court in 2014 had disallowed the Dimapur Truck Owners’ Association from collecting money along the highways and at check-gates, the press release stated.
Till date, the press release stated, the NVCO has been receiving ‘receipts’ belonging to the Dimapur Truck Owners’ Association.
“The option if the state government continued with GST in the state then the state government has to stop all authorised and illegal practices in the name of ‘tax,’” the NVCO stated. The organisation appealed to the public to ‘come out and fight the illegal collection of taxes in their respective district. The press release called it a ‘similar fight’ to that of the public action committee of the Naga Council of Dimapur. The NVCO expressed high appreciation of the initiative.
Further, the resource persons highlighted the importance of the Food Safety & Standard Act of 2006.
“Food simply means any substance whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed and it includes packaged drinking water, vegetables, infant food products, meat, even the water used for food during its manufacture,” the students were told.
“Food safety means an assurance that the food is acceptable for human consumption when it is prepared and eaten according to its intended use. Chemical contamination which occurs when food has been contaminated by chemical substance such as non-permitted food addictive, permitted food addictives added beyond safety limits, cleaning agents, pesticides, antibiotics etc.”
The NVCO stated that food-borne diseases may be from consuming food which had been contaminated by chemicals or biological organism, and some of the food-borne diseases may be self-limiting.
‘According to WHO every year an estimated 600 million people which is almost 1 in 10 people in the world fall ill and 4,20,000 die after eating contaminated food. In Nagaland the Principal Secretary to the govt. of Nagaland, department of Health & Family Welfare is designated as Food Safety Commissioner and the chief medical officer in the district is designated as food safety officer.’
The resource persons are stated to have appealed to the people to approach the state public health laboratory at Paramedical in Kohima to test food, the updates added.
