Inaugurating the 20th meeting of the Central Consumer Protection Council (CCPC) in New Delhi on Wednesday, the minister said that these centres will be set up in a phased manner and will be managed by the zilla parishads or reputed voluntary consumer organisations. The Union department of consumer affairs has written to the chief ministers of all states about the scheme requesting them to identify suitable voluntary organisations or zilla parishads for setting up such centres in order to give an impetus to the consumer movement in all parts of the country. Referring to the steps taken by the ministry to incorporate comprehensive amendments to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the minister said that many of the amendments suggested related to facilitating quicker disposal of cases by the courts.

The draft bill is now being whetted by the law ministry and is expected to be introduced in the winter session of the parliament.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union minister of state for consumer affairs, V Sreenivasa Prasad appealed to state governments to ensure that the consumer courts in their states strived to gain the confidence of the people because growing consumer awareness has generated much hope in the justice delivery system of these redressal agencies.

He also urged voluntary organisations, consumer activists, the media and members of the council in particular to play an active role in taking up consumer issues and make people aware of their consumer rights.

Department of consumer affairs secretary S Bandopadhyay suggested to state governments to fully utilise the funds available to them for strengthening the redressal machinery in their states.

Mr Shanta Kumar also distributed Swami Vivekanada National Awards for consumer protection for the years 1998 and 1999. The Centre of Indian Consumers' Protection & Research, Thiruvananthapuram was awarded the first prize of Rs 50,000 and a certificate of merit for the year 1999. The second and third prizes were awarded respectively to the Palakkad District Consumers' Association, Kerala and Ajmer Zilla Gramin Upabhokta Sansthan, Rajasthan.

The first prize for the year 1998 was awarded to the Consumer Protection Council of Kerala while the second and the third prizes were awarded respectively to the Federation of Consumer Associations, West Bengal and Akhil Bharatiya Upabhokta Congress, Bhopal. Prizes were also distributed under the 'youth and women' category for outstanding work in promoting consumer awareness.