Centre will bring quality norms for 2,500 items soon

1. Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced that the central government will soon enforce Quality Control Orders (QCO) for approximately 2,500 items.

2. Goyal, during a meeting held on the 77th foundation day of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), stated that the number of QCOs has increased significantly under the Modi government. There were merely 14 QCOs for 106 goods in 2014, which has risen to 156 QCOs for 672 goods in 2024.

3. He further highlighted that 90% of these QCOs have been introduced during the recent years of Modi’s administration.

4. The Minister emphasized the government’s commitment to maintaining high standards of quality in goods and services, as signified by the ongoing process of QCO implementation for several more items.

5. Goyal credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision of ‘zero defect, zero effect’, which advocates the creation of high-quality, sustainable, and eco-friendly products with no adverse impact on the climate.

6. He acknowledged that consumers have become more quality-conscious due to the implementation of the Prime Minister’s vision.

7. Stressing on the importance of quality, Goyal called it a dominating factor that is beneficial for consumers, the industry, as well as importers and exporters.

8. The Minister encouraged the youth to become advocates of quality. He proposed that they could promote e-learning and enhance the performance assessment, review, and analysis of knowledge for holistic development (PARAKH) initiative in various academic institutions.

9. After a thorough gap analysis, the BIS is planning to establish a comprehensive network of modern laboratories for improved facilitation of the industry.

10. Recently, the BIS agreed to invest INR 40 crores to set up 21 laboratories specifically for cotton testing. The Minister urged the industry to suggest other areas which may require similar testing facilities.