GRAHAK PANCHAYAT

 

Grahak Panchayat

Grahak Panchayat or Consumer Forum is a social organization registered under Co-operative Societies Act. In 1974 there was a shortage of goods for daily use and other essential commodities.

A group of young people stared the movement with 25 families in one group. 500 such groups were formed. Goods were purchased from manufacturers at wholesale prices and the leader of the group distributed it to the families. As a follow-up of this the Grahak Panchayat was formed in 1986.

The objectives of the Grahak Panchayat are:

v  To educate people about consumer rights.

v  To build consumer organization to get justice.

v  To solve consumer problems.

It was made up of retired people from different fields with plenty of knowledge and experience. There is no membership to this organization. Anyone is free to join voluntarily. It tries to solve problem amicably and use the Grahak court as the last resort.

The Grahak Panchayat has spread all over the country including Andaman. Counseling centers are opened in many areas in a city to give free advice to consumers.

It has a lot of literature on the consumer movement and instructions to consumer on what they can do if they have been cheated. One of their booklets in four editions gives information on government departments, what their functions are and also how complaints can be filed. It says what precautionary measures should be taken and what one can do after being cheated.