15 March: World Consumer Rights Day
Every year World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is being observed on 15 March for celebration and solidarity within the international consumer movement.
Significance of Day: It provides (i) an opportunity to promote the basic rights of all consumers (ii) demand those rights that must be respected and protected and (ii) for those protesting against the market abuses and social injustices.
2016 Theme: “Antibiotics off the menu”. The theme is a campaign to stop the sale of meat raised with the use of antibiotics important to human medicine.
It seeks to spread awareness about antibiotic resistance driven by overuse of antibiotics in agriculture to promote faster growth and to prevent diseases rather than treat diseases.
About World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD)
- WCRD is observed on 15 March to commemorate the historic address given by the then US President John F Kennedy to the US congress in 1962.
- In his historic address he had outlined the definition of consumer rights for the first time. He was the first world leader to formally define ‘consumer rights’.
- The first WCRD was observed on 15 March 1983 and has since become an important occasion for mobilizing citizen action.
- In 2015, WCRD was observed with the theme “Helping consumers choose healthy diets”.
- In India, 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day. On this day in 1986, Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the President.
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Month: Current Affairs - March, 2016