Globalisation, Market and Rural Consumers

Globalisation is the process of integrating the world markets thereby benefiting the consumers in terms of better goods and services. Globalisation has changed the way consumers behave in the market. With the entry of a large number of multinational companies and the growth of e-commerce, the problems faced by the consumers are much more complex. The problems are mainly due to unfair business practices and the weakness of the consumer complaint redressal mechanism. As a result, the exploitation of the consumers is rampant. This is more rampant in the rural areas where due to illiteracy and ignorance it is easy to exploit the rural consumers. Low purchasing power due to poverty and availability of limited choice has added to consumer exploitation. The rural markets are full of spurious products which not only harm consumers financially but also are a health hazard. The book is an outcome of a National Seminar on "Globalisation Markets and the Rural Consumers" organised by the Centre for Consumer Studies, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. The seminar was sponsored by the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. The book contains twenty three chapters written by eminent experts working in the area of consumer protection and welfare. They focus on how globalisation has changed the Indian markets and its overall impact on the rural consumers. Various strategies and policy interventions have been suggested by the authors to address the problems faced by the rural consumers. The book is useful to academicians, researchers, consumer activists, policy-makers and all those interested in promoting the consumer movement in the country.