By: Ibni Maqbool
Srinagar: The constitution of District Consumer Commissions in Jammu and Kashmir has hit a roadblock due to lack of applications and non-availability of suitable candidates.
A selection committee set-up the government has found that it couldn’t draw up panels for the appointment of the president and members of district consumer disputes redressal commissions in six districts of the Union Territory due to lack of applications and non-availability of suitable candidates.
Documents in possession of The Precious Kashmir reveal that the selection committee has viewed that it could not finalise the suitable panels for the appointment of president of district commissions in Anantnag, Baramulla, Kupwara and Rajouri due to similar reasons.
Similarly, it couldn’t recommend panels to the government for appointment of members in Baramulla, Kupwara, Rajouri and Doda due to lack of applications.
According to documents, the committee viewed that the panels couldn’t be finalized for the appointment of female members in Baramulla, Kupwara, Udhampur and Doda due to lack of applications and non-availability of suitable candidates.
On the basis of recommendations of the selection panel, the government re-advertised the posts earlier this week.
As per rules governing the appointments, the selection committee shall make its recommendations for suitable panels for these appointments after taking into account the suitability, record of past performance, integrity and adjudicatory experience.
The district consumer commissions are being set-up in J&K under the Consumer Protection Act-2019. It became applicable to J&K after reorganization of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
The law was enacted for protection of the interests of consumers by establishing different authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumer disputes.
The district consumer commissions have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed Rs one crore.
