On consumer rights

A host of big names have been nabbed or fined by food authorities in Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory and Karachi. While the roots of this new found love for consumer protection is still unknown, and therefore leaves a bit of suspicion in the air, all things considered the move is refreshingly bold and much needed.
Pakistan has one of the fastest rates of urbanisation in the region, and indeed in the world. And growing incomes come along individualistic life styles, fast foods, and the whole nine yards of consumerism. Yet it is an unfortunate reality that the country’s civil society has not produced any worthwhile platform for consumer rights. Nor has the government given any serious thought to such affairs, partly because they couldn’t care less, and partly because the society itself hasn’t pressurised or lobbied for such protection. So in this backdrop the ongoing wave of clampdown is very refreshing.
In one related piece of news Islamabad’s Capital Development Authority (CDA) said it will be holding a three-day workshop on subject of food and hygiene standards at hotels and restaurants. The idea is to make owners and managers understand food and hygiene standards and how they can achieve them. This too is a welcoming development.
However, the CDA and indeed other food authorities in other parts of the country should make such workshops more inclusive. There is a need to bring in the consumer itself; tell her, what her rights are, and how she can approach the authorities, and so on and so forth.
Similarly, clean kitchens shouldn’t be the only criteria to judge hotels and restaurants. Quality and sourcing of food also matters; we all remember how McDonalds – which has had an open kitchen policy to showcase their cleanliness – has been caught in rotten meat scandals time and again.
Moreover, the focus of food authorities shouldn’t only be mom-pop food joints or SME level food businesses. But that the big businesses should be also be brought under the radar and directed to improve transparency. For instance, Pakistan’s packaged milk producers showed astronomical growth in first quarter profits this year, thanks due to huge drops in the price of powdered milk in international prices. And here advertisements keep touting how consumers are getting fresh milk processed right from the buffalo’s udder. It’s about time that big ticket corporations are directed to inform their consumers about the right quantity and quality of ingredients.
The media too ought to start growing some guts. How long will they hide behind notion that ‘thou shan’t bite the hand that feeds.’ The moral pedestal upon which that they put themselves does not allow such sham. Lastly, civil society would do well to start a campaign for consumer rights, whereas aside from box standard advocacy, organising civic hackathons focussing on consumer rights solutions would also be a fruitful idea. Urbanisation should not be a one way street, where producers make hay at the cost of consumers’ lives.