Kolkata: The Consumer Affairs department will reach out to the universities across the state through seminars to create awareness about consumer rights among the young generation.
The department has already set up consumer clubs in 1300 odd schools and colleges across Bengal. “The college and university students are accustomed to online shopping and digital transactions. Hence, we feel they need to be made aware about consumer rights. Besides involving school students, we will be focusing more on the higher educational institutions, particularly the universities we haven’t reached out to yet,” said Biplab Mitra, Minister-in-Charge of Consumer Affairs department during a programme to commemorate the occasion of World Consumer Day (2025). Mitra said the department’s secretary Neelam Meena has proposed that awareness about consumer rights and laws are not having the desired effect among the school students owing to their age factor. Reaching out to the college and university students will serve the purpose effectively. “I endorse her views. Hence, we will include colleges and universities,” he added. Discussions on fraud associated with e-commerce, cyber security, real estate, banking etc were held in the presence of school students. “False or fabricated billing by a section of private hospitals have emerged as a major issue faced by common people. There are provisions of redressal through our department,” Mitra said.
The minister flagged off a tableau from the department’s office at Mirza Ghalib Street which will travel across Kolkata in the next five days spreading consumer awareness messages.