Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles and Commerce and Industry delivered the keynote address at the On-Boarding Workshop for the members of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Technical Committee at the National Training Institute for Standardization today. What did NITS).
Minister Goyal emphasized the important role of standards in promoting domestic trade, increasing export potential, fostering innovation and ultimately contributing to national development. He emphasized that maintaining high quality standards is paramount in India’s pursuit of becoming a developed economy by 2047 in line with the vision of ‘One Nation, One Aspiration’.
Goyal urged the committee members to recognize their important responsibility in shaping Indian standards. He stressed that these standards should prioritize sustainability, combat counterfeit goods, and help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups on their journey to competitiveness.
Furthermore, Goyal emphasized the importance of standards in establishing a strong enforcement ecosystem and called for wide consultation with all stakeholder groups during their development. He stressed that Indian standards should keep pace with the latest technological developments and meet or exceed international standards, to become the manufacturing hub of the world and become self-reliant (Atmanir Bhar Bharat). underlines India’s desire to achieve
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), as the National Standards Body of India (NSB) formulates Indian Standards through a consultative process in technical committees. These committees bring together various stakeholders, including industry representatives, consumers, academics, research and development institutions, technical experts and government officials. The standards are carefully developed through a process that values openness, transparency, impartiality and consensus.
Currently, there are about 400 standing technical committees within BIS, covering 16 broad technology areas and sectors. These areas range from core technologies to emerging fields such as geospatial information, artificial intelligence, blockchain, e-mobility, space research, smart manufacturing, and smart farming. Technical committee members play an important role in ensuring the effectiveness of the standardization process.
Their cooperation and contributions are important in creating high quality standards that meet national and international requirements. Consequently, BIS maintains the dynamism of its technical committees by constantly adding new members. In the 2023-24 financial year alone, more than 500 new members have joined various technical committees.
These new committee members, who are experts in their respective domains, are also expected to align with the national standardization vision, programs, priorities and processes. To facilitate this, BIS has launched a series of onboarding workshops aimed at formalizing the induction of new committee members. These workshops serve as a platform to educate members about their roles and expectations within the committees and provide training on the BIS standardization process. BIS plans to hold four physical onboarding workshops at its National Institute for Training in Standardization in September and October 2023, with future workshops to be scheduled as all new committee members join BIS technical committees. .
Commitment to high quality standards and involvement of diverse stakeholders in the standardization process are key components of India’s growth strategy. With continued efforts to train and onboard new committee members, BIS is dedicated to ensuring that Indian Standards continue to meet the needs of the rapidly evolving country.
First Published: 28 Sep 2023, 07:50 IST