Consider this. A district consumer forum member in Jharkhand was in the court after consuming liquor. In Manipur, many presidents of district forums do not know how to write orders. Several forums don't have postal stamps to send notices and orders. They don't have stenographers to type orders and in many states the members get pay lesser than that of a class-IV employee.
Heads of state consumer dispute redressal commissions (SCDRC) recently shared the sorry state of affairs in district courts across the country at a conference organized by the consumer affairs ministry. Former Supreme Court judge and president of National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) Justice D K Jain, who chaired the meeting, admitted that several district forums are in bad shape.
Justice Jain candidly admitted that not enough attention has been given to the selection of members of these forums, many of whom are social workers. He acknowledged that significant portion of them are only interested in getting a designation and post and have "little interest in this job." So, practically presidents of these forums write judgments, he said.
Highlighting how unruly members could be, a representative from Jharkhand state commission said that many of them don't want to work beyond two hours every day. He urged that there should be some mechanism to take action against members who attend court in drunken state.
A representative from Haryana highlighted how their proposals to appoint seven presidents and 12 members have been pending for months. Moreover, when a district forum sends order and warrants to police for execution, cops don't even take it forward.
However, Justice Jain asked the state commissions to resolve issues and to ensure these forums perform better. He added that in the past three years, the disposal of cases has reduced and this is a serious trend. As per records, the disposal has reduced from 1.61 lakh in 2011 to 1.26 lakh in 2014.
On the other hand, state commissions and national commission are disposing of more cases. In fact, the number of cases disposed of by NCRDC in 2014 was more than the number of cases filed. In the first three months of 2015, 11% cases have been disposed of, Justice Jain said.
Meanwhile, in order to help district forums to have necessary infrastructure and staff for smooth functioning, consumer affairs ministry is taking a few initiatives. "We will try to resolve the problem of stenographers," additional secretary S Gurcharan said.
While adding that in government the widely held view is consumer forums are not effective, he said the government is working out a plan where the money can be released to district forums through NCRDC for infrastructure upgradation.
At present, central fund goes to the state governments and there is no tracking of whether the amount sanctioned for infrastructure is being utilized for paying salary.
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