HYDERABAD, March 4: People from all walks of life have formed the Consumer Rights Forum to protect rights of consumers. They decided to launch the forum on March 15 which coincides with the World Consumer Rights Day.

Adeel Pathan, chairperson and founder of the CRF, briefed the participants about the aims and objectives of the forum.

He said that the forum would organize seminars to sensitize citizen about measures to protect their interests.

He said that the adviser to the Sindh chief minister on information technology and environment, Mr Noman Saigal, Zia Awan advocate, District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jameel, prominent agriculturists and business community and media representatives would share their views during the launching seminar at the Hyderabad press club.

Mr Pathan said that they would raise voice against the consumers’ exploitation.

He said that consumer rights included right to basic goods and services, health care, education and sanitation at reasonable rates.

Those who attended the meeting included District Naib Nazim Zafar Rajput, MPA Rehman Rajput, senior journalist Ali Hassan, Syed Nadeem Shah, Mahmood Nawaz Shah of the Sindh Abadgar Board and Junaid Khanzada.

They said that there was a need for such organization but added that this should not become a non-governmental organization and should work for people at the grass roots level.

The participants of the meeting supported the idea for a consumer rights organization and added that price hike had badly affected the life of people.

They said that creating awareness among people about consumer protection laws was essential for a healthy society and assured their cooperation for the consumer rights forum.

DRAFTSMEN: The All-Pakistan Technical Draftsmen Association has expressed concern over an inordinate delay in the award of promotion to draftsmen of architectural office.

The life chairman of the federation, Hafiz Matloob Ahmed Chisthi, presided over the meeting.

The meeting regretted that the draftsmen of architectural office have been denied promotions for the last 20 years which was a great injustice.

It demanded that the chief engineer buildings and secretary works and services to issue promotion orders of junior draftsmen to senior draftsmen.

It demanded that the draftsmen of buildings, highways and irrigation departments should also be given selection grade on the pattern of public health engineering department.

Hafiz Matloob said that the ban imposed by the finance departments on selection grade was applicable to new cases and not to old ones.

He said that the finance department performance was far below the mark and added that complaints in this regard have been made to the Sindh chief minister and chief secretary but without any result.

He said that duplicity of the finance department was simply incomprehensible.

He once again appealed to the chief minister and chief secretary to grant selection grade to the draftsmen of all the departments on the pattern of public health engineering department.

He said that the matter of appointment of chief draftsmen in the highways department which had been pending with the finance department for the last so many months should also be decided without any further delay.

The meeting welcomed the government decision to restore the public health engineering department.