Pakistan’s consumer rights activists leave for study tour to India

LAHORE: A five member delegation of Pakistan’s Consumer Rights Activists is leaving for India today(Monday) for a two week study tour.

The tour has been organized by Consumer Watch Pakistan with the support of Commonwealth Foundation. The delegation is led by Amer Ejaz, National Coordinator CWP.

The purpose of the visit is to establish contacts between members of civil society groups in India and Pakistan so that they can learn from each other experience and setup a mechanism for information sharing on regular basis.

It is noted that the consumer movement is very strong in India and has lead to substantial improvements in terms of a strong legal framework as well as active civil society initiatives.

In this context, there is a lot that Pakistan-based civil society groups can learn from the experience of civil society groups in India. CWP has undertaken significant work in the area of consumer Protection which includes advocacy and public awareness.

But the contacts between the consumer groups of both the countries are few and far between. By establishing close contacts with its Indian counterparts, CWP is likely to bring home useful information and some successful models applied in India.

During their stay in India, the delegation will visit different consumer organizations in Delhi, Jaipur, Noida and Agra. These include among other, Consumer Voice Delhi, Consumer Coordination Council, Noida, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS-International), Jaipur.

The visit is the part of the project titled “Experience Sharing among Civil Society Organizations working on Consumer Protection in India and Pakistan” The project is being financially supported by Commonwealth Foundation.

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