New Delhi, March 1 (IANS): Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Railways and Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday instructed the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to create a Customer Charter to usher in the highest transparency in its certification process and inspections.
Instructing to maintain the quality of the products in procurement the Minister said, no substandard goods should be purchased by the Central or state governments and PSUs as well.
He said that products manufactured in India should be of international standards whether manufactured for the local market or for the international market.
Goyal said it is a challenge for the BIS to fast track the standard setting processes, especially for programmes of national priority. BIS must therefore ensure that its Technical Committees develop required new standards in the quickest possible time for products where presently none exist, or review and revise existing standards whenever required.
While presiding over the 3rd Governing Council meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards via virtual media, he asked the officials to speed up the process of testing of the products across the country.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Rao Saheb Patil Danve, Mahesh Poddar, Member of the Rajya Sabha, Leena Nandan, Secretary Department of Consumer Affairs, Director General, BIS P.K. Tiwari, Chairman QCI Adil Zainulbhai and other senior officials of the Ministry and BIS.
He said 'One Nation One Standard' and Indian Standard should be set as per global benchmarks.
The Minister said that the standard testing fees should also be reduced in the initial years for the MSMEs, StartUps and for women entrepreneurs .This will encourage them to get their products certified and also encourage ease of doing business.
The Bureau of Indian Standards has already formulated Indian Standards comparable to International Standards for electric vehicles, Fuel blends, Smart City Digital Infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Manufacturing, Textiles, Aerial Ropeways.
The BIS is operating more than 37,000 product certification licences all over the country. Fifty five new products have been covered for the first time under the Product Certification Scheme, since April 1, 2020.
A Consumer Engagement Portal has been launched to facilitate interaction with Consumer Organizations/Groups for conducting various consumer oriented programmes and activities of BIS.
An upgraded version of android mobile app - BIS CARE is in place to facilitate stakeholders to verify the authenticity of the ISI mark, registered jewellers and marked electronic goods under the Compulsory Registration Scheme. The app also facilitates users in submitting complaints.