Big Ad and mismanaged Event

I saw this ad in a newspaper, A half page ad from the school, tells you what happens when your son Rahul joins Mother’s Pride. Neighbours will think that Rahul’s grandma has magic powers, and his grandpa will become famous by starting a blog. All this will happen because Rahul will learn computer and Taekwondo in the school. According to this ad, when your child joins this school, the whole family joins it. And school charges only for your son. Family gets educated at no cost.

This school organized a Baby Show on Sunday last. Registration amount was Rs. 100. There were two batches, 9.30 AM – 12.30 PM and 2.00 PM – 5.00 PM. We registered our grand daughter for afternoon batch in I to 2 years category (she is 14 months old).

Parents were advised to get ready for Delhi’s most happening baby show, a show, that will allow us to showcase our baby’s most adorable qualities, be it a sweet smile, a curly mop of hair or sparkling eyes.

When we reached the venue at 1.45 PM results were being announced. We were told that the show is over. School has cancelled second batch, We asked them how can they do it? The reply was we have already done it. We asked them, why we were not informed, our phone number was on the registration form? They said we did not consider it necessary. So, this is the real school.

Now for managing the event. Hall was overcrowded. There were not sufficient chairs. The atmosphere was very stuffy. No proper arrangement for drinking water. School did not bother to plan a hall which could accommodate the people expected at the show. Number of children registered for show were known. It was known that at least mother and father of the child will also come.

It was nothing but plain harassment. Event was highly mismanaged. School has robbed parents of Rs. 100and lot of time, and the excitement in the family that their child was taking part in a baby show. Parents and children were mentally and physically harassed.

A highly misleading ad.

Call centres for customer service

A real situation cartoon
(source - www.mtncartoons.com)

Misleading advertisements

Contrary to all expectations, the highly competitive nature of present day market has not brought any value to consumers in terms of either quality or price. India is a very big market and the number of consumers is so large that majority of products and service providers do not bother about the interest of consumer. In fact in today's India, consumer has become a king harassed by every body.

Providers of products and services rely heavily on advertisements. The money they spent on these advertisements is billed to the consumer resulting in increasingly higher costs for consumers without adding any value to their purchases.

This advertisement war has deteriorated to such an extent that a large number of advertisements are giving misleading information. There is no check on the contents of the advertisements. If any consumer wants to approach the advertiser they simply do not know whom to approach. If by luck the right person is located then he either ignores the query or gives some information which further misleads the consumer.

Should such misleading advertisements be allowed? NO

Is there any agency which overseas these advertisements? YES

Advertising Standards Council of India is a self regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry. The Role and Functioning of the ASCI & its CCC in dealing with Complaints received from Consumers and Industry, against Advertisements which are considered as False, Misleading, Indecent, Illegal, leading to Unsafe practices, or Unfair to competition, and consequently in contravention of the ASCI Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising.

Protect yourself against such misleading advertisements.

Ethics in laboratory medicine

"Ethics in laboratory medicine" is the title of an Annexure given in ISO 15189: 2003 - an international standard published by ISO for Medical Laboratories - Particular Requirements for Quality and Competence. This informative requirement is the special feature of this standard. It is expected that medical laboratories shall adopt ethical practices in their working, shall not engage in practices restricted by law and shall uphold the reputation of their profession.

Need for following this standard by Indian medical laboratories has been felt for long. It has now been underscored by a series of three articles in a major newspaper of India (Times of India of November 21 & 22, 2005) - "Footpath lab, sick report: Health hazard in test tube"; "A booming Cottage Industry"; "Short on quality, high on risk, some path labs make you sick".

The general principle of health care ethics is that the patient's welfare is paramount. The Annexure points out that the professional personnel of a medical laboratory are bound by the ethical codes of their respective profession. The laboratory should treat all patients fairly and without discrimination, and not simply as a source of income.

Laboratory should maintain transparency in various activities performed by it which include collection of information, collection of primary samples, performance of examination, reporting of results, storage and retention of medical records and providing access to them, use of samples for examination purposes other than those requested, financial arrangements etc. This transparency, no doubt, should not infringe on the right of an individual patient to confidentiality of any information related to him. An unholy nexus is existing between medical laboratories with doctors who send them patients for a commission. This is highly unethical and should be avoided.

Doctors should refer their patients to those laboratories only which have a sound quality & competence management system in place. This system should meet or exceed the requirements of ISO 15189: 2003. Patients, on their part, should insist that their doctors refer them to only such a laboratory.

Be careful while buying medicines

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”.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.