Nagaland Voluntary Consumers Organisation (NVCO) has appealed to the concerned departments, district administration and KMC to act against traders using short weights, charging high prices, denying customers their choice of the meat cuts etc.
They also strongly condemned butchers in Kohima town who were using altered weighing stones and scales to cheat consumers. Highlighting the issue, a press release from NVCO press & media cell said, a few kilograms of pork bought in Kohima was found to be short by more than 300 grams for every kilogram. When the butcher was asked to empty the scales to show it was evenly balanced the butcher refused saying they had to resort to some unfair means to earn a profit, the press release alleged. An examination revealed that the weighing scale balanced evenly only when a piece of metal attached to one side of the top end was shifted to the other side, NVCO said. They reminded that the KMC had raised the rate of pork from Rs. 180 to Rs. 200 per kilo with an assurance that butchers would be honest with their weights.
They appreciated the youth leaders of Kohima PWD area making checks on the butchers in their colony and encouraged other colonies to do the same in the interest of the consumers.
NVCO also narrated their activities during their week-long observation of ‘National Consumer Day’, beginning December 18, 2017 when they visited gas agencies in Kohima to check on black marketing of LPG filled gas cylinders. The next day they conducted checks on motor parts shops removing the MRP tags, the press release said.
On the third day, NVCO said, they visited check gates in and around Kohima to monitor illegal collections and on the 4th day their team visited the markets and appealed to traders to use accurate scales and measures while the 5th day saw the NVCO promoting the ‘Clean Election Campaign’.
The release added that NVCO marked the 6th day promulgating citizens’ entitlements and they celebrated the final day, December 24, 2017, marking the 7th anniversary of the toll-free Nagaland State Consumer Helpline (1800-345-3701).
NVCO president, Savi, recipient of ‘First Prize National Award for Consumer Protection’, said “A vigilant consumer is an asset to the nation” and wished consumers a happy new year.