When I was studying in Allahabad, a chemist in Civil Lines market had written in big letters on the gate of his shop - We pray to God that you never need medicine but if you need it then purchase it only from us”. At that time I and my friends took it as a good joke but now I realize that a wonderful sentiment and concern for people was contained in the message. This ad had remained in my memory till now. Recently I came across an ad issued by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Department of Consumer Affairs. The ad has been inserted in popular daily newspapers about consumer protection and what precautions one should take while purchasing medicine.
The ad shows a picture where a consumer is saying to the shopkeeper at a chemist shop – “Got you, didn’t I !?” The shopkeeper is shown with folded hands with a paper in his hands. Perhaps he is feeling sorry, perhaps he is not. There is a line printed at the bottom of the picture – “Expiry date means there is no life after death”. Rather a grim reminder, don’t you agree?
How many of you have not noticed this ad? How many of you have noticed and read it? How many of you read it and felt concerned? How many of you have decided that in future you will be more careful while purchasing medicines? Being careful means what? Let us review this. I will also like to share with you my experience I had gained while designing, implementing and auditing of Quality System in pharmaceutical companies.
First of all Ad says, “your awareness is your protection”. How right it is? To protect yourself you must be aware. You must have the right information.
BE CAREFUL WHILE MAKING PURCHASES - Never purchase medicine without prescription of a registered medical practitioner. Buy it only from a reliable shop. In case of any doubt you must immediately consult your doctor who had prescribed the medicine. Sometimes chemists suggest another make saying that it is the same medicine manufactured by another company under a different name. Don’t assume or presume things while buying and taking medicines.
INSIST ON A CASH-MEMO - Don’t pay more than the mentioned M. R. P. You must also ensure that purchase of medicine is legal, and the best way for making a purchase legal is to take a cash-memo. You may need the cash-memo any time in future. Check and verify that details of medicine have been properly recorded on the cash-memo, such as, name of the medicine, manufacturer’s name or brand, potency, tablet-syrup-powder, batch No., date of expiry, name of doctor, name of patient.
Now let me tell you what precautions should be taken for manufacturing medicine. Manufacture and distribution of medicines is regulated under the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, Rules and various Notifications issued from time to time by the Government. Under this Act a manufacturer has to obtain a license from Drug Controller of respective State or Union Territory. Without this license no body can manufacture and distribute any medicine. The Manufacturing and Quality Control Chemists appointed by the manufacture are approved by the Drug Controller and their names are mentioned in the license. The chemist who is selling the medicine is also required to obtain such license. You may ask the chemist to show you the copy of the license. These licenses are renewed at regular intervals and should be valid on the day of manufacture and sale.
Manufacturers are required to follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) as notified in the Act while manufacturing medicines. These GMP cover the building (clean and free from any source of contamination) , the machinery, the quality control instruments, the people (should be free from disease and practice personal hygiene), purchases (only approved materials), production (clean environment to prevent any contamination), packing, distribution, in short controlling everything which may contaminate the medicine. The Act also provides for immediate recall from market of all such medicines, which may have some quality defect.
Some medicines may require specially controlled environment for storage. Such as, low temperature. Such medicines should be kept in freezers or refrigerators pending sale and consumption. In case of such medicines special instructions are given on the strip containing tablets, bottle containing syrup and any printed material packed with the medicine. Check, verify and follow for storing and consuming such medicines.
So friends, be very careful while purchasing medicine. Also take them as per instructions printed on the label and as advised by the doctor. Remember you are not eating the medicine for fun. It is as per the necessity to cure. A spurious medicine or a good medicine but taken in a wrong manner may prove harmful.
In the end I repeat the message of my university days – I pray to God that you never need medicine but if you need it then purchase it only from a reliable chemist”.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
How safe is food served on trains and other Indian Railway premises !!!
Passengers consume various food items during their journey by Indian Railways. Many passengers carry with them food items prepared at home and consume them during the journey. Then there are vendors and food stalls/plazas approved by railways who supply food items on platforms and also on trains. Food items are also served in refreshment rooms on platforms.
On many trains food items are served by pantry car. There are also a large number of unapproved vendors serving food items on platforms and on the trains. Then are the food items served by Indian Railways Catering Organization. One such organization is Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) which is a public sector company set up and fully owned by the Ministry of Railways. IRCTC runs catering services through their own employees and also through contractors.
If you ask passengers about the quality of food served and manner of serving during their journey you will find a mixed response. Some will have complaints to make and some will express general satisfaction. All these responses are based on their perception about food, its taste, amnner of serving, and whether they fell ill or not after eating the food. Most of the passengers in India will also say that once you are in journey you can not expect home like food.
Hardly you will find a passenger who had examined the issue from quality and safety point of view. I accept that for a long time I also used to think like this. But due to my current profession of providing training and consultancy on management systems including food safety management systems, I have gained a large experience on this aspect of quality and safety of food. Through this review I wish to share my experience with the people.
If you visit the Website of IRCTC, you will only find material related to booking of tickets and a horde of advertisements. No direct reference is available about catering although the name of the organization has the word catering. At the bottom of Home Page you will find a toolbar giving three links. Indianrailways.gov.in is the official Website of Indian railways. It also does not provide any information on catering. Then there is a link to ?Air Tickets to India?. In the middle you will find the link to ?Other IRCTC activities?.
When you click on this, you will see a list of these other activities. One out of these is ?Empanelment for on board catering in Trains, Management of Food Plazas and Refreshment Rooms over Indian Railways?. Click on this and you will see an advertisement ?A Grand Business Opportunity? stating terms and conditions for empanelment. One of these conditions is ? ?In addition, the organization must have strict quality control mechanism with mandatory external food quality and hygiene audit comparable with Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) or equivalent Good Industry Practices.? Friends this is the result of my extensive search ? the only reference I could find on Indian Railway Websites on food safety.
Now let me talk something about this food safety. Food safety management systems are based on the concept of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). In simple language we can describe it as ?ugaane se khaane tak? or in English as ?from field to dining table?. In other words under this system quality and safety of food is ensured at every stage of procurement of raw materials, production, packing, transportation, storage and consumption.
This is ensured through systems of various practices, such as, Good Agricultural Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, Good Laboratory Practices, Good Hygienic Practices. Safety means preventing any form of contamination in food ? Physical, Chemical, Microbiological. If you remember incidents of finding pesticides in packaged drinking water and other cold drinks ? it was chemical contamination. In case of living organisms found in Cadbury chocolates- it was microbiological contamination.
During my recent trip to Chandigarh on Shatabdi Express I noticed that the paper placed in the food tray had this matter printed on it ? ?Indian Railway?s First ISO 9001: 2000 & HACCP Certified Catering Organization?. Paper packets containing spoon, fork, knife, and tea kit were also printed with this statement. It was a pleasant surprise for me. It is a matter of pride for any Indian that Indian Railways are giving so much importance to safety of food being served to passengers on the train. It has also aroused my interest, as it is not an easy job to Implement ISO 9001and HACCP on a running train.
The first thing I wanted to know was the name of the agency, which has audited the systems and certified them to ISO 9001and HACCP standards. I tried my level best but could not learn the name of that organization. Waiters belong to a contractor?s organization and were not aware of what ISO 9001and HACCP mean. So was the case with train executives.
The manner of serving food was also not of required standards. It has killed my joy. I wanted to find out more. I sent e-mail to IRCTC but received no reply. I searched the Websites and found only a passing reference to food safety.
All this has created a doubt in my mind about the credibility of this claim of Indian Railways, being first ISO 9001:2000 and HACCP certified organization, and also the quality and safety of food. There are so many items served, tea, sugar, milk powder, samosa, biscuits, toffees, butter, jam, tomato ketchup, cooked vegetables, dal, rice, soup, roti. All these items are supplied by different organizations.
How their quality and safety are ensured. Also how the personal hygiene is ensured when people are not aware of the system. I do not want to spoil pleasure of eating in Shatabdi Express but this is the situation I thought I should share with you.
I am still searching and any information if found I will share with you. In the meantime, carry your own food even if the charge of food served in Shatabdi Express is included in your ticket.
On many trains food items are served by pantry car. There are also a large number of unapproved vendors serving food items on platforms and on the trains. Then are the food items served by Indian Railways Catering Organization. One such organization is Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) which is a public sector company set up and fully owned by the Ministry of Railways. IRCTC runs catering services through their own employees and also through contractors.
If you ask passengers about the quality of food served and manner of serving during their journey you will find a mixed response. Some will have complaints to make and some will express general satisfaction. All these responses are based on their perception about food, its taste, amnner of serving, and whether they fell ill or not after eating the food. Most of the passengers in India will also say that once you are in journey you can not expect home like food.
Hardly you will find a passenger who had examined the issue from quality and safety point of view. I accept that for a long time I also used to think like this. But due to my current profession of providing training and consultancy on management systems including food safety management systems, I have gained a large experience on this aspect of quality and safety of food. Through this review I wish to share my experience with the people.
If you visit the Website of IRCTC, you will only find material related to booking of tickets and a horde of advertisements. No direct reference is available about catering although the name of the organization has the word catering. At the bottom of Home Page you will find a toolbar giving three links. Indianrailways.gov.in is the official Website of Indian railways. It also does not provide any information on catering. Then there is a link to ?Air Tickets to India?. In the middle you will find the link to ?Other IRCTC activities?.
When you click on this, you will see a list of these other activities. One out of these is ?Empanelment for on board catering in Trains, Management of Food Plazas and Refreshment Rooms over Indian Railways?. Click on this and you will see an advertisement ?A Grand Business Opportunity? stating terms and conditions for empanelment. One of these conditions is ? ?In addition, the organization must have strict quality control mechanism with mandatory external food quality and hygiene audit comparable with Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) or equivalent Good Industry Practices.? Friends this is the result of my extensive search ? the only reference I could find on Indian Railway Websites on food safety.
Now let me talk something about this food safety. Food safety management systems are based on the concept of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). In simple language we can describe it as ?ugaane se khaane tak? or in English as ?from field to dining table?. In other words under this system quality and safety of food is ensured at every stage of procurement of raw materials, production, packing, transportation, storage and consumption.
This is ensured through systems of various practices, such as, Good Agricultural Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, Good Laboratory Practices, Good Hygienic Practices. Safety means preventing any form of contamination in food ? Physical, Chemical, Microbiological. If you remember incidents of finding pesticides in packaged drinking water and other cold drinks ? it was chemical contamination. In case of living organisms found in Cadbury chocolates- it was microbiological contamination.
During my recent trip to Chandigarh on Shatabdi Express I noticed that the paper placed in the food tray had this matter printed on it ? ?Indian Railway?s First ISO 9001: 2000 & HACCP Certified Catering Organization?. Paper packets containing spoon, fork, knife, and tea kit were also printed with this statement. It was a pleasant surprise for me. It is a matter of pride for any Indian that Indian Railways are giving so much importance to safety of food being served to passengers on the train. It has also aroused my interest, as it is not an easy job to Implement ISO 9001and HACCP on a running train.
The first thing I wanted to know was the name of the agency, which has audited the systems and certified them to ISO 9001and HACCP standards. I tried my level best but could not learn the name of that organization. Waiters belong to a contractor?s organization and were not aware of what ISO 9001and HACCP mean. So was the case with train executives.
The manner of serving food was also not of required standards. It has killed my joy. I wanted to find out more. I sent e-mail to IRCTC but received no reply. I searched the Websites and found only a passing reference to food safety.
All this has created a doubt in my mind about the credibility of this claim of Indian Railways, being first ISO 9001:2000 and HACCP certified organization, and also the quality and safety of food. There are so many items served, tea, sugar, milk powder, samosa, biscuits, toffees, butter, jam, tomato ketchup, cooked vegetables, dal, rice, soup, roti. All these items are supplied by different organizations.
How their quality and safety are ensured. Also how the personal hygiene is ensured when people are not aware of the system. I do not want to spoil pleasure of eating in Shatabdi Express but this is the situation I thought I should share with you.
I am still searching and any information if found I will share with you. In the meantime, carry your own food even if the charge of food served in Shatabdi Express is included in your ticket.
How safe is packaged drinking water !!!
Water is essential for human survival. Humans use water for satisfying their various needs, such as, bathing and washing, cooking food, drinking etc in addition to various industrial and other applications. Water for drinking is available from various sources. With increasing industrial activities and also changing life styles, humans themselves have posed a danger to drinking water quality and its fitness for safe human consumption. Like any other commodity water is also now being sold. Government sells water under public water supply system. Drinking water is being sold by both public and private sector industries in packaged form. Water so supplied is required to conform to pre-decided standards of quality. India’s national standards body, Bureau of Indian Standards has established national standards for drinking water.
Consumption of packaged water for drinking purposes has been increasing considerably in India. Packaged water supplied for drinking purposes should be produced, packaged and marketed in a manner to ensure its safety for human consumption. Microbiological, physical and chemical safety of the water should be guaranteed to the extent expected. It should be ensured that packaged water offered for sale in the market is safe and free from harmful organisms.
Bureau of Indian Standards have published following Indian Standards for drinking water:
a) IS 10500 – Drinking water (from any water source including public drinking water supply systems),
b) IS 13428 – Packaged natural mineral water,
c) IS 14543 – Packaged Drinking water (Other than packaged natural mineral water).
These standards prescribe microbiological requirements, organoleptic & physical parameters, limits of undesirable substances, radio-active and pesticide residues. Standards also specify hygienic practices to be adopted for collection of raw water, processing, handling, packaging and marketing.
Packaging of water should be done in clean, hygienic, colourless, transparent and temper proof plastic/glass bottles/containers suitable for preventing possible adulteration and contamination of water. Plastic used for making plastic bottles/containers should be of food grade quality.
Bottles/containers should be marked with information about name of product, name & address of processor, brand name, batch or code number, date of processing, treat of disinfection, best for consumption date, net volume, direction for storage and any other marking(s) required by Weights & Measures Standards, Packaged Commodity Rules and provisions of Prevention of Food Adulteration Act & Rules.
Considering that above safety aspects should be ensured in the interest of public safety, Government has regulated manufacture, packaging and marketing of packaged drinking water through a quality control order. Under this order Packaged Natural Mineral Water and Packaged Drinking Water should meet all requirements of IS 13428 and IS 14543 respectively. In addition bottles/containers containing water should bear ISI Mark. Any violation of this quality control order attracts a fine of Rs. 50000 and imprisonment of six months. Provisions of this order apply equally on the processing and packaging unit, distributor, stockiest and retailer.
ISI marking on any bottle/container of drinking water provides an assurance by Bureau of Indian standards that water meets the requirements of specified Indian Standard and is safe and free from harmful organisms.
Consumption of packaged water for drinking purposes has been increasing considerably in India. Packaged water supplied for drinking purposes should be produced, packaged and marketed in a manner to ensure its safety for human consumption. Microbiological, physical and chemical safety of the water should be guaranteed to the extent expected. It should be ensured that packaged water offered for sale in the market is safe and free from harmful organisms.
Bureau of Indian Standards have published following Indian Standards for drinking water:
a) IS 10500 – Drinking water (from any water source including public drinking water supply systems),
b) IS 13428 – Packaged natural mineral water,
c) IS 14543 – Packaged Drinking water (Other than packaged natural mineral water).
These standards prescribe microbiological requirements, organoleptic & physical parameters, limits of undesirable substances, radio-active and pesticide residues. Standards also specify hygienic practices to be adopted for collection of raw water, processing, handling, packaging and marketing.
Packaging of water should be done in clean, hygienic, colourless, transparent and temper proof plastic/glass bottles/containers suitable for preventing possible adulteration and contamination of water. Plastic used for making plastic bottles/containers should be of food grade quality.
Bottles/containers should be marked with information about name of product, name & address of processor, brand name, batch or code number, date of processing, treat of disinfection, best for consumption date, net volume, direction for storage and any other marking(s) required by Weights & Measures Standards, Packaged Commodity Rules and provisions of Prevention of Food Adulteration Act & Rules.
Considering that above safety aspects should be ensured in the interest of public safety, Government has regulated manufacture, packaging and marketing of packaged drinking water through a quality control order. Under this order Packaged Natural Mineral Water and Packaged Drinking Water should meet all requirements of IS 13428 and IS 14543 respectively. In addition bottles/containers containing water should bear ISI Mark. Any violation of this quality control order attracts a fine of Rs. 50000 and imprisonment of six months. Provisions of this order apply equally on the processing and packaging unit, distributor, stockiest and retailer.
ISI marking on any bottle/container of drinking water provides an assurance by Bureau of Indian standards that water meets the requirements of specified Indian Standard and is safe and free from harmful organisms.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Newspaper Ads are a real harassment
Sunday Times of India has 68 pages. Out of these, 50 pages worth space is only advertisements. I am not interested in these ads but I have to shell out Rs. 6.50. I am sure, other newspapers are also not lagging behind. Why should I pay for ads? People inserting these ads have already paid for them. It is nothing but harassment and that too in the morning.
Monday, January 01, 2007
PUBLIC GRIEVANCES REDRESSAL MECHANISM
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice headed by Dr. E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, M.P., has taken up the subject “Public Grievances Redressal Mechanism” as a part of study of Administrative Reforms. Since the Government has already passed the Right to Information Act 2005, the Committee has decided to take up the subject “Public Grievances Redressal Mechanism”, as available in various Government Departments/Organizations/PSUs/Banking institutions/Trusts for detailed examination and report. The committee would also like to explore the necessity of a separate enactment on the Public Grievances Redressal Mechanism.
The committee has invited memoranda containing suggestions/views/comments of individuals/ institutions/ organizations interested in the above subject. The suggestions should confine to the policy matters procedures adopted for the purpose etc. only and not on personal grievances.
Two copies to be sent to Shri R. B. Gupta, Deputy Secretary, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 005, Ground Floor, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi – 110001 (Tel: 23034056 and Fax 23016784), OR
E-mail to behari@sansad.nic.in
Last date is 28.01.2007
Fellow customers, this is a very good opportunity to share our views and help in making a pro-customer law on grivance redressal.
The committee has invited memoranda containing suggestions/views/comments of individuals/ institutions/ organizations interested in the above subject. The suggestions should confine to the policy matters procedures adopted for the purpose etc. only and not on personal grievances.
Two copies to be sent to Shri R. B. Gupta, Deputy Secretary, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 005, Ground Floor, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi – 110001 (Tel: 23034056 and Fax 23016784), OR
E-mail to behari@sansad.nic.in
Last date is 28.01.2007
Fellow customers, this is a very good opportunity to share our views and help in making a pro-customer law on grivance redressal.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
My New Year Resolution
I, Suresh Gupta, a proud citizen of India, adopt the following as my New Year resolution:
That I shall work for continual improvement of day-to-day life of Indian citizens.
That my relationship with all other Indians shall be on three levels – emotional, social and national.
That on emotional level the relationship shall be based on the principles of humanity, as I am a human being and so all other Indians.
That on social level the relationship shall be based on the principles of peaceful co-existence, as I am a part of the Great Indian Society and so all other Indians.
That on national level the relationship shall be based on the principles of nationalism, as I am a citizen of Great Indian Nation and so all other Indians.
That my behavior with all other Indians shall be guided by above principles.
That my religion, my language, my life-style, my food habits etc., shall be my personal traits.
That I shall consider religion, language, life-style, food habits etc., of all other Indians as their personal traits, and shall respect them.
That all my personal traits shall support and strengthen above relationships.
That based on above relationships, I shall work for creation of a class-less all-Indian society.
That I do not have any copyright on this manifesto and all Indians are welcome to adopt it in full or part as their manifesto.
That I shall work for continual improvement of day-to-day life of Indian citizens.
That my relationship with all other Indians shall be on three levels – emotional, social and national.
That on emotional level the relationship shall be based on the principles of humanity, as I am a human being and so all other Indians.
That on social level the relationship shall be based on the principles of peaceful co-existence, as I am a part of the Great Indian Society and so all other Indians.
That on national level the relationship shall be based on the principles of nationalism, as I am a citizen of Great Indian Nation and so all other Indians.
That my behavior with all other Indians shall be guided by above principles.
That my religion, my language, my life-style, my food habits etc., shall be my personal traits.
That I shall consider religion, language, life-style, food habits etc., of all other Indians as their personal traits, and shall respect them.
That all my personal traits shall support and strengthen above relationships.
That based on above relationships, I shall work for creation of a class-less all-Indian society.
That I do not have any copyright on this manifesto and all Indians are welcome to adopt it in full or part as their manifesto.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Safe cold drinks - see it as a customer intertest issue and not as a conflict
Safety of food, now focussed on soft drinks, and further focussed on colas, should be a concern of all. There can be no two opinions that these drinks should be safe for human consumption. Then why there is a conflict? It seems as though a war is being fought between CSE and cola companies; and media, other consumer groups, statutory authorities and the governments are playing refrees. Can any of these agencies say that people's health is not a matter of importance? Can any of these agencies say that levels of pesticide and other harmful chemicals in these drinks is of no value? I think that no body in right sense will say that. And why they are fighting with each other?
People of India deserve this and no body should fail them. No more wrong and incomplete information. The customer is confused and this is harassment which should stop forthwith.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
A new form of harassment!
What is happening on cola issue is nothing but a new form of harassment. Evetrybody involved in this debate is trying to force his or her views down the throats of customers. Let us see what Mr. Gurcharandas has to say about it:
"How to score a self-goal!
Truly, we are a wondrous land! In a country where two thirds of the children are undernourished, where 70 percent of the people cannot access safe sanitation and 65 infants die out of a thousand born, we are seriously debating the pesticide levels in a product that is probably the safest in the world from a pesticide perspective. Sadly, the controversy has created a scare in a nation which has among the lowest pesticide residues in its food chain. Indian diets contain roughly 18 percent of acceptable daily intake levels of pesticide versus Western diets which have 40 to 50 percent, according to international experts. The reason is that our diets are extensively vegetarian; and meat inherently has higher pesticide levels via the grains ingested by animals in the food chain.
If we are seriously concerned with pesticides in Indian diets, we ought to begin with tea. According to European norms (EU), tea contains 187,300 times the pesticide than water used in colas. If hypothetically our colas had exceeded allowable levels by thirty times, I could still drink 6200 glasses of cola and I would have less pesticide in my body than a cup of tea. The same goes for other foods. EU norms allow apples to have 154,120 times the pesticide than water; bananas to have 95,220 times; milk 7140 times. So, soft drinks are among the safest products we consume from the pesticide perspective. This doesn’t mean that our other foods are not safe. Nor is our food chain polluted—an unfortunate impression created by the media. It means that we do not live in an ideal world free of pests and pesticides.
I am generally a critic of our government, but in this case I give it credit. It has fixed water standards which are equal to the highest norms in the world. Since water in soft drinks conforms to these norms, it is probably safer to drink a Pepsi in Kerala than in Kentucky. The government is also now working on sugar norms and testing a protocol for finished soft drinks. In the end, governments understand that multinational companies have to maintain high standards because they have too much to lose. News travels quickly and a disaster in one country can harm a company’s image and sales around the world. Hence, the Indian government wants to do its own tests. The last time around government data showed six times lower pesticide levels than CSE’s tests.
Our state politicians have fallen into a trap. They think that by banning colas they have won cheap votes. People, however, will soon realise that they have been taken for a ride. Already the people of Kerala are questioning, how can you ban colas and allow the sale of liquor and cigarettes? Eventually, everyone has lost in this silly business. Our nation has been unfairly smeared for high pesticide in our food chain. Our exports of food products will lose the trust of international customers. Tourists will say, “If I can’t drink a safe cola, how can I eat anything in India?” Foreign investors will be reluctant to invest in a country which does not observe the rule of law in closing factories. All NGOs have got a bad name by these smear tactics. The environmental movement has been hurt. This is sad because we need a strong civil society to take on the real problems of India. Finally, media has been tarnished by its lack of application. We have truly scored a self-goal!"
Do you think that current debate is addressing these pertinent issues raised by Mr. Das in his article? My answer is no. Providing wrong or incomplete information makes it a new form of harassment of customers. And all, govt, PFA, BIS, cola manufacturers, CSE, other NGOs, medias, are involved in harassing the customer.
"How to score a self-goal!
Truly, we are a wondrous land! In a country where two thirds of the children are undernourished, where 70 percent of the people cannot access safe sanitation and 65 infants die out of a thousand born, we are seriously debating the pesticide levels in a product that is probably the safest in the world from a pesticide perspective. Sadly, the controversy has created a scare in a nation which has among the lowest pesticide residues in its food chain. Indian diets contain roughly 18 percent of acceptable daily intake levels of pesticide versus Western diets which have 40 to 50 percent, according to international experts. The reason is that our diets are extensively vegetarian; and meat inherently has higher pesticide levels via the grains ingested by animals in the food chain.
If we are seriously concerned with pesticides in Indian diets, we ought to begin with tea. According to European norms (EU), tea contains 187,300 times the pesticide than water used in colas. If hypothetically our colas had exceeded allowable levels by thirty times, I could still drink 6200 glasses of cola and I would have less pesticide in my body than a cup of tea. The same goes for other foods. EU norms allow apples to have 154,120 times the pesticide than water; bananas to have 95,220 times; milk 7140 times. So, soft drinks are among the safest products we consume from the pesticide perspective. This doesn’t mean that our other foods are not safe. Nor is our food chain polluted—an unfortunate impression created by the media. It means that we do not live in an ideal world free of pests and pesticides.
I am generally a critic of our government, but in this case I give it credit. It has fixed water standards which are equal to the highest norms in the world. Since water in soft drinks conforms to these norms, it is probably safer to drink a Pepsi in Kerala than in Kentucky. The government is also now working on sugar norms and testing a protocol for finished soft drinks. In the end, governments understand that multinational companies have to maintain high standards because they have too much to lose. News travels quickly and a disaster in one country can harm a company’s image and sales around the world. Hence, the Indian government wants to do its own tests. The last time around government data showed six times lower pesticide levels than CSE’s tests.
Our state politicians have fallen into a trap. They think that by banning colas they have won cheap votes. People, however, will soon realise that they have been taken for a ride. Already the people of Kerala are questioning, how can you ban colas and allow the sale of liquor and cigarettes? Eventually, everyone has lost in this silly business. Our nation has been unfairly smeared for high pesticide in our food chain. Our exports of food products will lose the trust of international customers. Tourists will say, “If I can’t drink a safe cola, how can I eat anything in India?” Foreign investors will be reluctant to invest in a country which does not observe the rule of law in closing factories. All NGOs have got a bad name by these smear tactics. The environmental movement has been hurt. This is sad because we need a strong civil society to take on the real problems of India. Finally, media has been tarnished by its lack of application. We have truly scored a self-goal!"
Do you think that current debate is addressing these pertinent issues raised by Mr. Das in his article? My answer is no. Providing wrong or incomplete information makes it a new form of harassment of customers. And all, govt, PFA, BIS, cola manufacturers, CSE, other NGOs, medias, are involved in harassing the customer.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Reliance way of harassing customers
Reliance is a very big organization. In its comparison a single customer has no means to fight when subjected to harassment by reliance. It becomes an unequal fight.
My family runs a training and consultancy company. It provides advisory services to other companies on management systems. It needs a reliable communication network to remain in continuous contact with its clients. Not being satisfied with MTNL services the company took a phone connection from reliance. It worked quite satisfactorily for few years. Then suddenly, the phone was disconnected withoit any intimation. Then we discovered that we are helpless agianst the might of reliance. That reliance has no respect for its cusatomers. That it believes hat customers are always wrong and only try to steal money from reliance. The amount in our case was Rs. 551.00.
We tried to get in touch with reliance to know what happened but could not reach the right person/department. Everybody we talked with only directed us to talk to somebody else. We were even given numbers of Mumbai. It was only when an executive visited us and told us that we have not made payment of Rs. 551.00. We told him and also talked with his office telling them that we have deposited the cheque in the box earmarked by reliance. For years we have been depositing the cheque there. He and his office told us that the cheque might have been misplaced in their office and assured us that they will check and revert back to us. They never did. After that we were visited by at least six executives fron six different offices of reliance to demand the money but no body informed what had happened to our chaque and why our phone was disconnected without any advance notice.
We were naturally very annoyed. This sudden disconnection of phone has affected our buisness. We have lost many calls from prospective clients. Existing clients showed their displeasure on being attended to on phone. We had to take urgent actions for organizing and informing alternate numbers for communication. But no information came from reliance about the whereabouts of our cheque. No explanation was given as to why our phone was disconnected without any advance notice. We have always believed that reliance will treat us as a special customer as we have always paid their bills well in advance. We never thought that we will be treated in such disgusting manner.
Our phone is still disconnected but we are receiving bills for no service. The details will be posted in comments.
My family runs a training and consultancy company. It provides advisory services to other companies on management systems. It needs a reliable communication network to remain in continuous contact with its clients. Not being satisfied with MTNL services the company took a phone connection from reliance. It worked quite satisfactorily for few years. Then suddenly, the phone was disconnected withoit any intimation. Then we discovered that we are helpless agianst the might of reliance. That reliance has no respect for its cusatomers. That it believes hat customers are always wrong and only try to steal money from reliance. The amount in our case was Rs. 551.00.
We tried to get in touch with reliance to know what happened but could not reach the right person/department. Everybody we talked with only directed us to talk to somebody else. We were even given numbers of Mumbai. It was only when an executive visited us and told us that we have not made payment of Rs. 551.00. We told him and also talked with his office telling them that we have deposited the cheque in the box earmarked by reliance. For years we have been depositing the cheque there. He and his office told us that the cheque might have been misplaced in their office and assured us that they will check and revert back to us. They never did. After that we were visited by at least six executives fron six different offices of reliance to demand the money but no body informed what had happened to our chaque and why our phone was disconnected without any advance notice.
We were naturally very annoyed. This sudden disconnection of phone has affected our buisness. We have lost many calls from prospective clients. Existing clients showed their displeasure on being attended to on phone. We had to take urgent actions for organizing and informing alternate numbers for communication. But no information came from reliance about the whereabouts of our cheque. No explanation was given as to why our phone was disconnected without any advance notice. We have always believed that reliance will treat us as a special customer as we have always paid their bills well in advance. We never thought that we will be treated in such disgusting manner.
Our phone is still disconnected but we are receiving bills for no service. The details will be posted in comments.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Junk calls from service providers is harassment
Peaky telemarketing by banks, mobile companies and other service providers is nothing but harassing the customer. You are in the middle of an important meeting, in a business seminar, chatting with your friends and relatives, in the middle of your dinner, and an unidentifiued person asks you to buy some service which you don't need. You already have a credit card of a bank and this person from the same bank wants you to buy a credit card of the same bank. You don't need a loan but this person tells you that his corporate office has selected you for giving a loan to you without any interest. Your mobile service package meets your need but this person asks to buy some more new products which you don't need. You either cut the phone call or be polite to say sorry that you don't need the services offered. In later case you will be spending few more minutes listening to the sales talk and raising your mental temperature.
These service providers are cheating you on the confidence you placed in them and given them your mobile number for getting better service. They sell your mobile number to other service providers and you start receiving such junk calls from all sort of service providers. Bharti, Idea, Hutch and almost all banks have made life very uncomfortable by these junk calls. You can decline the offer courteously or shout at them but what will you do with their latest mode of harassment, the recorded message.
Now see the impertinance of Hutch Marketing Manager, Naveen Chopra. He says that he will harass you at his will. If you do not want to be harassed then you will have to go to their website to use 'do not call' option. Why should I do this? Do not I have any right not to be harassed? What right this fellow Chopra has to harass me with his junk calls? I have bought the mobile for my comfort and convenience and not for being harassed by some Hutch Chopra or Idea Mukerji or some Airtel spokesperson. And see the bullshit claim these companies make - we care for user privacy.
There should be a law to stop this harassment directed to a specific customer.
These service providers are cheating you on the confidence you placed in them and given them your mobile number for getting better service. They sell your mobile number to other service providers and you start receiving such junk calls from all sort of service providers. Bharti, Idea, Hutch and almost all banks have made life very uncomfortable by these junk calls. You can decline the offer courteously or shout at them but what will you do with their latest mode of harassment, the recorded message.
Now see the impertinance of Hutch Marketing Manager, Naveen Chopra. He says that he will harass you at his will. If you do not want to be harassed then you will have to go to their website to use 'do not call' option. Why should I do this? Do not I have any right not to be harassed? What right this fellow Chopra has to harass me with his junk calls? I have bought the mobile for my comfort and convenience and not for being harassed by some Hutch Chopra or Idea Mukerji or some Airtel spokesperson. And see the bullshit claim these companies make - we care for user privacy.
There should be a law to stop this harassment directed to a specific customer.
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