South Mumbai MP Milind Deora in a letter to Communications Minister A Raja has demanded that camera and mobile phone companies should display prominently the hazards resulting from the use of these gadgets in their advertising and publicity.
“Basically, I have requested the minister to get mobile companies to highlight the damages of cell phones such as electronic discharges and even radiation to consumers,” Mr. Deora told PTI.
He said he made this request after receiving a letter informing him of a death caused by the use of mobile phone near a high tension overhead cable.
“It is about a letter I received on how electronic discharges from a mobile phone killed a young boy in Maharashtra when he used camera flash near a high tension overhead cable,” he said.
Most companies manufacturing these items include a leaflet in the gadget’s packaging that warns against improper or incorrect use.
“But hardly anyone cares to read through such literature in fine print,” he said.
The fact that cell phones and electronic cameras are now increasingly finding their way into remote corners of India, where people are less aware about safety aspects, “It should be made obligatory for all these companies to include a highlighted prominent panel in their advertising and publicity cautioning users against the inherent dangers,” Mr. Deora said.
Authorities must put up notices at places like railway stations, warning people on gadget safety so that they do not use gadgets at inappropriate places, he added.
