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Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal, on Saturday emphasised that consumer empowerment is going to be a paramount feature of a developed India and called for keeping consumers at the centre of all the initiatives.

The minister was addressing an event held to celebrate National Consumers Day here on Saturday.

The minister applauded the Consumer Affairs Department for launching various initiatives and for their outstanding achievements. He also appreciated the consumer commissions across the country for their focused effort on speedy disposal of cases, noting that those approaching the helplines for complaints are largely from small companies, who are devoid of technical knowledge and can't afford assistance, as he reaffirmed the need for speedy disposal of cases.

Referring to the theme 'Effective disposal of cases in consumer commissions', the minister said it resonates with the approach of the government, which is based on ensuring speedy justice, not only to the consumers who have complained, but to the nation at large.

Goyal highlighted that the initiatives undertaken by the Consumer Affairs Department resonate with the three significant themes that have been articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- convergence, capacity building and climate change.

On convergence, the minister spoke about the efforts being made to make the compliance burden easier for businesses as well as the common citizens. He added that in the last few years, over 1,500 redundant laws have been removed from the statute, about 39,000 compliances have been simplified and a number of minor offences have been decriminalised.

He also said that the government on Thursday came out with a comprehensive bill, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill 2022, to decriminalise minor offences for ease of doing business and ease of living.

Over 100 provisions in different laws pertaining to 19 ministries are sought to be decriminalised by this Bill. He added that this is inline with the approach of the government to work in convergence in a spirit of the whole of the government.

On capacity building, Goyal spoke of 'Mission KarmaYogi' as a unique initiative to retrain in order to be equipped to serve the people better.

The minister emphasised that the 3 Ts - technology, training and transparency will take us towards greater consumer awareness and greater service to our consumers.

Quoting John F. Kennedy, Goyal said, "If consumer is offered inferior products, if the consumer is unable to choose on an informed basis, then his money is wasted and the national interest suffers."