The present study entitled A study on purchasing pattern, problems and awareness of welfare programmes among farm families

of Gadag district was carried out in the year 2006-07 with the objectives of studying the purchasing habits and problems faced by the farm families of different landholdings, coping up practices to solve their problems with regard to purchasing of consumable goods and consumer durables and to assess the consumer knowledge on rights and responsibilities. Welfare programmes and utilization of district forum by the selected samples to solve their disputes and document the nature of complaints given by the rural consumers in the consumer forum and presenting two case studies of solved complaints. Survey was conducted in Gadag district. Gadag, Ron, Mundargi, Shirahatti and Naragund were the taluks of Gadag district. Out of their five, Gadag (75 km), Naragund (75 km) and Ron (90 km) taluks were nearer to Dharwad headquarters and they were selected for the study. From these selected taluks five per cent of the villages from each of them were selected. Thus three (Belahod, Benakoppa and Hosur), five (Amaragatti, Hiremannur, Gogeri, Hullur and Itagi) and two (Khanapur and Khalakeri) villages were selected from Gadag, Ron and Naragund taluks respectively. So total number of villages selected were less. Purposive sampling techniques was adopted for the selection of different landholding households of LL, SF, MF and BF. From selected villages, different landholding households were contacted to participate in the study. Twenty households were selected from each village comprising of five samples in each category of landholdings. Fifty households were selected from each category of landholdings to make the total number to 200. So total sample size was 200. Head of the family was considered as respondent for the collection of primary data. A self structured questionnaire was administered for the collection of household survey data. Using this questionnaire the required data was collected by personal interview method. Data was coded, tabulated, analysed and interpreted using suitable statistical

parameters viz, Garretts ranking technique. The implications of the study The implications based on the findings of current investigation are as follows. 1. Majority of the respondents not aware of unethical practices like high pricing, cheating by misleading, imitation products, incorrect and incomplete labels and deceptive packaging and in clothing low quality material, damaged cloth, high pricing and starch content were the unethical practices were not aware by the respondents. Unethical practices such as low quality goods, defective spare parts, high pricing and imitation products were followed in selling consumer durables. This needs the education on such aspects. 2. Many of the consumer welfare programmes such as Consumer Protection Act, Consumer Forum, procedure of giving complaint to consumer forum, consumer laws and rules, consumer rights and responsibilities and Prevention of Food and Adulteration were not known by the rural respondents. So this calls for the attention of consumer education and NGO of consumer welfare to highlight. 3. Majority of the households of different landholdings were not aware of consumer rights and consumer responsibilities. So there is need of consumer education to aware of their own rights and responsibilities. 1. INTRODUCTION Everyone who spends money income to buy goods and services from the market is a buyer, but buyer who makes use of goods and services for his / her living to maintain good physical and mental health is a consumer. A common man as a consumer has a wide range of expectations such as price, correct weight and measurement, purity or genuiness, packaging, service during and service after the sale. Consumer is a person who purchases variety of goods and services for his / her own

or his / her family use. As per the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) No. 68 of 1986, for the purpose of goods and services. Consumer means any person who Buys any goods for consideration which has been paid or promised, or partly paid and partly promised or under any system of deferred payment and includes any use of such goods other than the person who buys such goods for consideration paid or promised or partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment when such use is made with the approval of such person, but does not include a person who obtains such goods for resale or for any commercial purpose; or Hires any service or services for consideration which has been paid or promised, or partly paid and partly promised or under any system of deferred payment and includes any beneficiary of such services other than the person who hires the services for consideration paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment, when such services are availed of with the approval of the first mentioned person. There is nobody in the world who is left out of the class of consumers. Immediately after a babys birth the need arises for baby food, clothing, feeding bottle, garments, medicines, toiletries etc., and thus bringing the baby to the consumer community. Consumer play very important role in the economy. They are largest economic group in any country, and present day activities are because of consumer only. Consumers are the pillars of the economy. The philosophy of marketing is based on consumer. The consumer is not only the heart of marketing but also the controller of marketing functions. Now consumer is completely dependent on the market to meet his / her needs. Hence, purchasing becomes an inevitable activity in every family. Purchasing is dynamic science and most important function of every family and homemaker must devote time, attention and energy on it. The family as a consuming unit purchases variety of goods and services to satisfy their wants and is always influenced by certain considerations which lead them to select a

particular commodity or go to a particular store or shop. Consumer has the right to expect that the food he/she buys is fresh and wholesome, the drugs are pure and effective, the products are safe and work well, the air he/she breaths, the water he/she drinks is pure and unpolluted, can travel safely and in time from place to place, his/her letters reach the destination within the expected time, the electricity supply is uninterrupted etc. Consumer in India are very heterogeneous in composition, following different religions, speaking different languages, using different products and services and adhering closely to their tradition. They are also largely poor, illiterate, ignorant and apathetic. So consumers face wide range of problems in their day to day dealings in the market place, banks, financial institutions, travel agencies, government and private offices, hospitals, public distribution agencies, school and various organizations engaged in providing goods and services. Some of the problems of consumers are lack of safety and absence of quality control regulations, food adulteration, short weight and measures, imitation manufacture, misleading advertisements, unfair trading, sales gimmicks, deceptive goods, incorrect and incomplete labels, dishonest vending, deceptive packaging etc. In reality consumer may be king of corporate activities, but his kingdom remains on paper only. Because of trade trickeries of sellers make sort of contest for buyers. Consumers are frequently cheated, fleeced and exploited by suppliers instead of getting fair value for their moneys worth in the exchange process. In the pursuit of profit making, business failed to discharge social responsibilities of maintaining and charging fair prices, supplying quality and standard goods and providing other services to the consumer. Indian consumers are cheated to the tune of Rs 2000 crore a year by way of quality or quantity or over charging (Kalpana, 1992). In December 2005/ out of 10 samples of milk analyzed from Gujarat two were found adulterated (CERC report, 2006). Along with this, large number of factors like poverty, exploding population resulting in shortage of goods and services, illiteracy and ignorance etc contribute to the consumer

movement. Consumer movement conceived as a social movement which seeks to enhance the economic well being and bargaining power of consumers. The first formal consumer movement was started in 1949 in Madras by Gandhian named Shri R.R. Dhalavi. Later Consumer Protection Council was established in Madras by C. Rajagopalacharya. In 1960s voluntary groups started working for the basic rights of consumers. Consumers movement started gaining its momentum with setting up of National Consumer Protection Council (NCPC). The major function of this council was collection information regarding consumer problems, assisting the state government in consumer movement, examining the consumer grievances, initiating remedial measures and promoting equitable distribution. Various measures to safeguard the consumer interest through legislation have also been taken by government of India. Some of them were Essential Commodities Act 1955, Agricultural Products (Grading and Marketing) Act 1937, Drugs Act 1940, Drugs Control Act 1954, Standards Institutional Certification Marks Act 1952, Prevention of food Adulteration Act 1954, Standards weight and Measures Act 1956, Consumer Protection Act 1986, etc. The notable one was Consumer Protection Act (CPA) of 1986. The act provides establishment of Consumer Protection Council at state and central level for promoting and protecting the rights of consumers. It also provides for redressal of consumer complaints and grievances. But lack of awareness about the redressal machineries, their own rights and responsibilities as a consumer are some of the major problem among the Indian consumers. Therefore, efforts must be made to disseminate consumer education through lectures, seminars, dramas, pamphlets and through mass media and make the consumers aware of the various goods and services available, the unscrupulous, fraudulent and unethical business practices and make them conscious of their own rights and responsibilities. So consumer education is necessary, since it helps the consumers to decide on the purchase of any product, price to be paid in relation to quality, durability and service.

However with specific reference to farm communities because of illiteracy and poor knowledge among them, they are being faced with numerous problems in the market and being cheated frequently. They are ignorant and unaware of consumer protection and welfare acts and programmes. Therefore, there is a need for consumer education in rural areas to protect the rural consumer from different malpractices and unfair trade practices. However, studies conducted on rural consumerism are very few and scanty. Hence, the present study has been taken up with the following objectives. The findings of the present study facilitate to take up an immediate necessary step to educate the rural consumers on various aspects. The objectives of the study are: To study the purchasing habits and problems faced by the farm families of different landholdings while buying consumable goods and consumer durables. To document the problems and coping up practices of selected samples to solve their problems with regard to purchasing of consumable goods and consumer durables. To assess the consumer knowledge on fundamental rights and responsibilities of consumers, protection and welfare programmes and consumer organization. To assess the utilization of district forum by the selected samples to solve the consumer disputes. To document the nature of complaints given by the rural consumers in the consumer forum and presenting two case studies of solved complaints.