The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged the Union government to defer implementation of amendments made in rules of the Packaged Commodity Act and the Standards of Weights and Measurements Act, scheduled to be enforced from May 1, 2008.
In a communication sent to the consumer affairs minister Sharad Pawar, CAIT has called for an open discussion on the amendments made by the government, stating that the said amendments are non-judicious, arbitrary and illegal.
Speaking to Indiaretailing, CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that the Union government introduced the said amendments in Rajya Sabha on March 10, 2005, proposing to amend 87 sections out of 160 sections by two amendment bills, which were referred to the standing committee of food, consumer and public distribution ministry.
He said that the report of the said committee forced the government to defer the amendment in the act, but the latter subsequently introduced several amendments in the rules that are proposed to be implemented from May 1, 2008.
– Raja Ghoshal