DCA-GTZ Project CONSUMER PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION IN INDIA. Workshop on. Creating Awareness on onsumer Protection through Mass Media

Transcription

1 DCA-GTZ Project CONSUMER PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION IN INDIA Workshop on Creating Awareness on onsumer Protection through Mass Media Report 29 th September 2009 Presented to: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MoCA)

2 Your contacts persons with GFA Consulting Group are Anja Desai (GFA s Headquarters) anja.desai@gfa-group.de Patrick von Braunmuehl (Senior Advisor GTZ ASEM project) Patrick.vonbraunmuehl@asemindia.com INDIA CONSUMER PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION IN INDIA Workshop on Creating Awareness on Consumer Protection through Mass Media Report Project Address GTZ-ASEM Project "Consumer Protection Consumption in India" 12/2, Jamnagar House Shahjahan Road New Delhi Phone: Fax:

3 Table of Contents 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 2 WORKSHOP BACKGROUND 2 3 WORKSHOP CONTENTS Objectives & Expected Results of the workshop Workshop Methodology 2 4 WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS Inaugural Session 2 5 RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE MEDIA EXPERTS 3 ANNEXES Annex 1: Annex 2: Annex3: Programme Schedule List of Participants Photo Gallery i

4 ABBREVIATIONS ASEM DCA GTZ VCO Advisory Services in Environmental Management Department of Consumer Affairs Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit Voluntary Consumer Organisation ii

5 1 E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y A workshop on creating awareness on consumer protection through mass media was held on 29 th September 2009 in New Delhi. The event was organized under the Indo-German DCA-GTZ Cooperation Project Consumer Protection Consumption in India in coordination with the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. The welcome address was given by Mr. P.A. Krishnamoorthy, Project Manager, GTZ and Mr. Patrick von Braunmühl, Senior Advisor, GFA, GTZ- ASEM. The workshop proceedings included a discussion on creating awareness on consumer protection through mass media. The major suggested topics that were discussed in the workshop were as follows: What relevance do consumer protection topics have in mass media today? Why is the relevance of these topics comparatively lower in India than in Europe or the US? What strategies exist to increase the interest of mass-media in consumer protection topics? What specific issues would be most relevant for mass media? What role could NGOs/VCOs play in communicating these issues to the media and how could there capacity for agenda setting in the media be strengthened? Why is comparative product testing as published in magazines of Consumer Voice and CERC almost unknown in India? What could be done to increase the dissemination and awareness of comparative product testing in India? Which would be the most relevant products to test and which criteria should be tested? In which way should the results of the product testing be made available to the media? Which media companies (TV, daily newspapers, magazines, and interest portals) could be approached for a permanent cooperation in publishing test results? 1

6 2 W O R K S H O P B A C K G R O U N D Consumer Protection Consumption in India is a project from being implemented by the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs along with Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). GFA Consulting Group provides technical consulting services to the project on behalf of GTZ. The first phase of the project was from and was implemented in the states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. The second phase is scheduled from and is implemented in the state of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The overall objective for the project is to enable the Indian system of consumer protection to safeguard consumer interests in a more effective and efficient manner. Furthermore, awareness about sustainable consumption choices and behaviour should be promoted. 3 W O R K S H O P C O N T E N T S 3. 1 O b j e c t i v e s & E x p e c t e d R e s u l t s o f t h e w o r k s h o p As the media is giving support to the consumer related issues, the overall objective of the workshop was to analyze the system of mass media in spreading awareness on consumer related issues and to get the opinion of the different experts from different fields of consumer affairs and media, on how to use the media in its best manner to provide information to consumers. The expected result of the workshop is the fulfilment of the above objective W o r k s h o p M e t h o d o l o g y The workshop consisted of an open brainstorming and discussion approach with different experts for an effective role of the media in making the consumer movement a success in the country. 4 W O R K S H O P P R O C E E D I N G S 4. 1 I n a u g u r a l S e s s i o n The welcome address was given by Mr. P.A. Krishnamoorthy, Project Manager. He presented the project background outlined the outcomes of the 1st phase of the project. He also presented an achievement of the 2nd phase of the project till now, what are the expected future works to be done and the objectives of the workshop. In his inaugural speech, Mr. Krishnamoorthy outlined his expectations from the workshop and shared the experiences and outcomes of this project so far. 2

7 5 R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S M A D E B Y T H E M E D I A E X P E R T S The enormous potential of mass media to reinforce consumer awareness creation is largely unutilized today. A list of skilled journalists need to be drawn that can provide their views and expertise on consumer awareness. They could be hired on a freelance basis to write media stories on test results, business malpractices or other consumer issues and distribute it to a wide range of media. Capacity building for VCOs how to build stories out of test results. Creating headcount for a media cell or at least one media relations executive would be useful for those VCOs involved in comparative testing. Media stories need to be created in a ready-to-use manner for easy absorption by the media. Special stories could be offered on an exclusive basis instead of distributing press releases to a large number of media. Partnerships can be created between product testing organizations and specific media for wider dissemination of test results (e.g. first exclusive publication through test magazine, second wider publication by licensing test results to mass media free of cost). A larger workshop can be organized (e.g. together with Voice Society) with participation of more journalists to increase media interest for consumer issues and understanding of VCOs on media relations. Beside the urban population media can reach the rural areas also. Regional news papers and community radio can be used for awareness creation. High growth rates in sales of consumer commodities especially in rural areas. So increased rural marketing by corporate needs to be matched by independent consumer awareness creation. An award could be created for best consumer journalism rewarding bestpractice reports on consumer issues. Journalist schools may be targeted with special lectures showing the potential of consumer related stories. Internships at consumer protection institutions could be offered to young journalists. Consumer issues are people s issues and thus most relevant for mass media if taken up in the right way. 3

8 Annex 1 Programme Schedule hrs Lunch hrs to 1730 hrs Suggested topics for discussions What relevance do consumer protection topics have in mass media today? Why is the relevance of these topics comparatively lower in India than in Europe or the US? What strategies exist to increase the interest of mass media in consumer protection topics? What specific issues would be most relevant for mass media? What role could NGOs/VCOs play in communicating these issues to the media and how could their capacity for agenda setting in the media be strengthened? Why is comparative product testing as published in magazines of Consumer Voice and CERC almost unknown in India? What could be done to increase the dissemination and awareness of comparative product testing in India? Which would be the most relevant products to test and which criteria should be tested? In which way should the results of the product testing be made available to the media? Which media companies (TV, daily newspapers, magazines, and internet portals) could be approached for a permanent cooperation in publishing test results? 1730 hrs Tea 4

9 Annex 2 List of Participants The list of invitees for the workshop on creating awareness on consumer protection through mass media held on at the India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi S.no. Name Organization Contact details 1 Mr. Rajendra Chowdhary Department of Deputy Secretary consumer Affairs 2 Mr. Patrick von GTZ Project Consumer Braunmühl Protection (m) Senior Advisor 3 Mr. Arvind Singh Senior Hindi Journalist 4 Mr. Akshay Kumar PMO Former Director Information 5 Mr. Suhas Borker Media NGO Activist Mr. Jawalant Swarup Lokmat Times Mr. Anshuman Atroley Communicayion Manager WWF 8 Mr. Davender Sharma Senior Journalist/Agri Expert Dr. Prof. Mathur Indian Institute Of Mass Communica Mr. P.A. Krishnamoorthy Indian Project Manager 11 Mr. Ashim Sanyal COO 12 Dr. Ved Upadhya Director 13 Ms. Akshara Saini Office Manager 14 Ms. Mina Toko Project Associate tion GTZ Project Consumer Protection VOICE Public Dialog Institute GTZ Project Consumer Protection GTZ Project Consumer Protection

10 S.no. Name Organization Contact details 15 Ms. Neha Verma Project Associate 16 Ms. Rashi Sharma Intern GTZ Project Consumer Protection GTZ Project Consumer Protection

11 Annex 3 Photo Gallery 7