Par panel pulls up consumer affairs min for failing to fulfil 5 assurances

A parliamentary panel today pulled up the consumer affairs ministry for failing to fulfil five pending assurances made to Parliament while suggesting it to adopt a pro-active approach to avoid inordinate delays.

The ministry has been asked to overhaul the existing mechanism to ensure that the assurances, which were made on the floor of the Lok Sabha, are implemented on time.

The Parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances, headed by BJP MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, scrutinised the implementation of assurances given by the ministry on the floor of the Lower House between 2009 and 2016.

The committee, in its report tabled in Parliament today, said five assurances out of 12 pending assurances are still pending for implementation even after a lapse of more than one-and-a-half years to six years.

Two assurances given on the issue of 'import of pulses and 'price rise' could only be implemented even after a period of more than seven years.

While the three assurances (on national building code, rise in prices of essential commodities and consumer awareness) were implemented after delays ranging from more than five months to two years, it added.

"The inordinate delay in fulfilment of the assurances clearly indicates lackadaisical attitude of the Department in undertaking proper follow-up action once an assurance has been made," the panel observed.

The panel said it was perturbed at the extent of pendency and inordinate delay in fulfilment of the assurance by the ministry because of which the utility and relevance of assurance are lost.

This also proves that the existing system of conducting fortnightly and monthly review meetings to review implementation of assurances has been "ineffective", it added.

The committee recommended the ministry to overhaul the existing mechanism to accelerate the pace of implementation of the assurances.