Jago CAPD Jago
Sir,
The Weights and
Measures Deptt, and the Deptt of Consumer Affairs
and Public Distribution (CAPD) are entrusted with
the job of maintaining rates of consumer items
and their packaging, weights etc. The Jammu
Municipal Corporation is also there to oversee
these affairs. It is mandatory for retail outlets
and shopkeepers to keep the rate lists at a
prominent place and adhere to the rates of items
in the rate-list. If one surveys the mutton shops
in the city of Jammu, one hardly finds any rate
list at any such shop. The Government has fixed
the rate of mutton for retail shops @ Rs 110-Rs
120 per kg. But it is sold at exorbitant rate of
Rs 160-Rs 170 per kg. The mutton sellers refuse
to sell mutton at Govt approved rates pleading
the excuse of higher rates in wholesale markets.
Similar is the case of other meat products like
chicken and fish.
The story of some
type of sweets shops is of its own kind. The
rates of same type of say ‘Burfi’ are
from Rs 100-Rs 180 per/Kg. Every sweet shop
claims that his product is different and so the
rates are different. The common practice of all
sweat shops is that the items are weighed along
with ‘Corgated boxes’ and consumer has
to pay same rate for packaging material as that
of sweets. The loose milk is yet another consumer
item which is sold on various rates and there is
no quality check. The mere celebration of
Consumer Day and checking drives on 1-2 occasions
in a year is not going to deliver. The
Departments responsible for these affairs should
have a sustained, dependable and foolproof
mechanism for maintenance of rates and weights.
Yours
etc...
Kartar Singh
Gangyal
Legislation for
rag-pickers
Sir,
The CAG of India
in its recent report titled
‘‘Management of waste in
India’’ has given robust suggestions to
the Government for better waste management. One
of the suggestions was for enactment of a
legislation to ensure healthy working conditions
for rag pickers by making waste separation
mandatory and levying fines on household not
complying with separation norms. On the basis of
an audit performance reports of 24 States, the
CAG is reported to have found that only 17 states
including Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and
Punjab have recognized the role of rag pickers in
recycling and reducing waste. The remaining
states need to follow suits in view of the
urgency and the significance of the issue
involved. The CAG of India has also suggested
that the Pollution Control Board could help each
municipality to identify the waste management
technology which suits them the most as per their
requirements.
Since there are
millions of rag pickers making their livelihood
through collection of trash and scraps, the
suggestions of the CAG of India to the Govt are
valuable and worthwhile and needed to be
implemented in letter and spirit which will
facilitate to a great extent the efforts of the
authorities to keep the city neat and clean. The
problem of heaps of garbage as well as the
chocking of drains and sewerage systems etc from
time to time is indeed a task which needs
attention. The polythene bags full of other waste
materials can well be seen in heaps of garbage,
in drains and in our water channeling systems
like canals including even the sacred River Tawi
called Surya Putri.
As such, the
Governments must go in for bringing these hapless
rag pickers in an organized sector by enacting
legislation at the earliest by acting upon the
invaluable suggestions made by the CAG of India.
Such legislation will go a long way in generating
employment for them and ameliorating their plight
in order to facilitate them to earn at least the
minimum, with which they could afford to have at
least two times meal in today's high cost way of
living, besides making their contribution towards
keeping the city neat and clean.
Yours
etc....
Ravi Sharma
Jammu
Students to handle terror
Sir,
Refer news item
‘‘Schools to train students to handle
terror situations’’ DE Jan 3.
The initiative
from NUEPA is a good step and it will pave way
for need of self-defence and disaster management
in students. Infact, the present educational
planning lays more stress on academies especially
for the secondary school students i.e from 9th to
12th classes. More emphasis is given by parents
also for better performance in academic subjects.
The age group of 14-18 is that stage of
adolescence where young students are at the prime
of their development and activities. The
‘Habit formation’ which lasts
throughout the rest of their lives is initiated
at this stage. So in the present circumstances
where terror attacks have become at usual affair,
we need to train our students to deal with such
situations so that they are able to save their
own lives and also the lives of their immediate
neighbours. We have projects like NCC, NSS etc
but the participation in these projects is
optional and as such fever students opt for these
avenues. The need of the hour is a compulsory
training and education for defence for every
students. It can be achieved by organising
workshops and orientation courses for teachers
and students. The frequency and regularity of
these types of programme should be increased and
a monitoring call should be created to oversee
the progress. The use of electronic and print
media should be made so that the need for such
training is emphasised.
Yours
etc..
Urvashi
Anand Nagar
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