Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal underscored the Centre’s proactive measures in recent years to regulate retail prices of food items, emphasising the government’s commitment to controlling inflation while fostering economic growth.
Speaking at an event organized by the ministry to commemorate National Consumers Day, Goyal acknowledged India’s status as the fastest-growing large economy.
Addressing the recent uptick in retail inflation to 5.55 per cent in November, driven by higher food prices, Goyal detailed the government’s actions. He noted the establishment of 140 new price monitoring centers, closely monitoring prices at 550 consuming centers daily.
Goyal highlighted the successful control of inflation through fiscal and monetary policies amid global inflationary trends.
Specifically, he cited the government’s swift response to rising prices of tomatoes and onions, including selling them through various outlets and creating buffer stocks.
Goyal emphasised the government’s efforts to provide relief to consumers by selling essential commodities like Bharat Dal and Bharat atta at affordable prices.
Discussing consumer protection, Goyal praised the work of the ministry and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) while urging the clearance of pending cases at different levels.
He emphasised the ministry’s focus on adopting technology for faster justice delivery and outlined guidelines to prevent dark patterns on e-commerce platforms.
Goyal criticised the Congress party’s handling of the gold hallmarking scheme and highlighted the effective implementation by the current government.
He stressed the importance of ensuring consumers receive quality products at reasonable rates, urging officials to enhance consumer awareness and strengthen testing facilities.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh provided statistics on case disposal, noting that more cases were resolved than filed.
However, he acknowledged a backlog of 5.43 lakh cases in consumer courts, emphasising the need for faster disposal to address the backlog.
