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Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today said that we must recognize and accept the importance of quality to make India a developed nation. He was addressing the gathering on the occasion of 76th Foundation Day of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in New Delhi.  

The Minister extended his greetings on the occasion of  76th Foundation Day of BIS. Portal for mapping of Industrial Units and Laboratories  was launched on the occasion today. This is a centralized platform for information on industrial units and laboratories across the country. This will enable analysis of test facilities in the country and help entrepreneurs in accessing information about testing facilities. 

Quoting John Ruskin, “Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort”, the Minister pointed out that if we look at the history of developed nations, we find that those countries who adopted ‘Quality’ in early stages of their development cycles progressed faster. He further added that these countries were able to engage with the world from a position of strength and inculcate the spirit to have high quality products, goods, services, in turn leading to high quality of lifestyle for the people.

Shri Goyal said as India enters into Azaki ka Amrit Mahotsav, it's a great opportunity for all of us to pledge ourselves to take quality as our mission  and to explore how we can contribute to maintain India a developed nation.  He emphasised that India will not become a developed nation unless we all recognize and accept the importance of quality.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s clarion call of ‘Zero effect Zero defect’, Shri Goyal emphasised that ‘zero defects’ will help us produce goods and services of high quality service to people. He also pointed out that unless our lifestyle has zero effect on climate change, we will not be able to survive. He therefore called for efforts towards mitigating the disasters of climate change and contributing towards reducing carbon footprint in the world. He termed zero effect and zero defects as the urgent call of the hour.

He exhorted everyone to move ahead together with confidence to rapidly transform the future of India and the future of every Indian citizen. Referring to PM Modi’s quote, “rapid transformation, not gradual evolution is going to take this country”, Shri Goyal said we no longer have the luxury of time and called for efforts for a transformational journey. 

He complimented BIS for launching several initiatives today and said that these have the potential of having a transformational effect on the Indian economy and on the lives of the people. On Standards National Action Plan (SNAP) 2022 - 27, the Minister said it lays down the roadmap on which we will all have to work to make quality a part of the very thinking and philosophy of every citizen in our country.  He also praised BIS for setting up around 4000 Standards Clubs across the country to expand quality connect with the people. He said this year's effort to reach out to five lakh households is only the beginning.

He pointed out that there may be a lot of people who may have retired but still have the desire to work and participate in the future well being of the country. He asked BIS to explore if a database of such people can be built up by connecting with alumni associations, organisations, and companies. He suggested that an outreach/ awareness program can be initiated by BIS wherein these people can engage through online/offline/hybrid mode with students in schools/ colleges/ universities to create quality consciousness in students. He asked BIS to draw up a plan to execute this program with an aim to create quality consciousness in the country.

Shri Goyal said the Government is committed to making the testing infrastructure ecosystem in India at par with the world class. He mentioned that efforts are underway to  equip BIS Labs with most advanced equipment, CCTV Cameras, automatic feeding of Reports of Testing, and focus on accreditation. He said efforts are also to expand capacity and ensure all types of testing facilities are available in labs across the country. He informed BIS is also looking at collaborating with other private labs to upgrade and mordernise their labs. He asked BIS to give a roadmap for achieving a target for 10X factory surveillance. He said that testing Minister concluded by saying that BIS must become the gold standard in terms of work on Quality. He assured that BIS will continue to be the harbinger of change and be at the forefront of the revolution of Quality.  

On the occasion today, Union Minister Shri Piyush Goyal also launched the following:

Launch of Standards National Action Plan (SNAP) 2022- 27: Standards National Action Plan (SNAP) 2022 - 27, the document to serve as strong foundation for standardization to meet the emerging technologies and concerns of sustainability and climate change. SNAP 2022 - 27 will play an important role in steering the national standardization efforts which would lead to standards becoming a key enabler of India’s economic aspirations. The implementation of key recommendations and strategies of the document will be pivotal in enriching and strengthening “Quality Culture” in the Nation.

Launch of Revision Exercise of National Building Code of India (NBC 2016): BIS, through its concerned technical committee, namely, National Building Code Sectional Committee, CED 46 is initiating the Exercise of Revision National Building Code of India to include sustainable city planning norms; new and sustainable building materials, design concepts, construction technologies and building and plumbing services and to deal with the various challenges being posed in the current scenario, without compromising on the safety of the occupants and assets in buildings and built environment.

Launch of Revised National Electrical Code of India 2023

The National Electrical Code of India 2023 (NEC 2023), a comprehensive electrical installations Code prepared by BIS, is a national instrument providing guidelines for regulating the Electrical Installations practices across the country. India’s first National Electrical Code was formulated in the year 1985, which was subsequently revised in the year 2011. The current revision includes the requirements of electrical installation as per the latest International best practices. Some of the important new Chapters added in the revised NEC are requirements related to Electrical installations at special locations like Hospitals, Community facilities, Hotels, Swimming Pools, Amusement Parks, Supplies for Electric vehicles, multi-storied buildings etc.

Launch of Training Courses on National Building Code of India 2016 and National Electrical Code of India

Considering the importance of the Codes in ensuring quality and safety of the buildings, related infrastructure and to spread awareness about Electrical Safety and to ensure proper interpretation of the standard, it is important that various stakeholders contributing to building planning, design, construction and operation and maintenance are well aware of the provisions of NBC 2016 and NEC 2023 for judicious implementation of the provisions and intent of the Code. BIS through its training arm, the National Institute of Training for Standardization (NITS) has designed training courses for national capacity building which were also launched on the occasion.

Standards Clubs in Schools

Through Standards Clubs, BIS aims to expose science students of class 9th and above to the concepts of Quality and Standardization through student centric activities.  BIS has till date established over 4000 Standards Clubs across India and upon realizing the potential and success of the novel endeavor, the target is ambitiously enhanced to creating 10,000 clubs by the end of 2022-23.

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