Bureau of Indian Standards is a statutory body functioning under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India. It operates various schemes like Product Certification (ISI mark), Management Systems Certification, Hall Marking of Gold and Silver Jewellery/Artefacts and Laboratory Services for the benefit of the industry and in turn aiming at consumer protection.
On 08 Oct 2024, Bureau of Indian Standards, Chennai Branch Office conducted the WSD 2024 Programme [Manak Mahotsav] at Hotel Accord Puducherry. Industry experts, Government Officials and stakeholders of BIS attended the function to celebrate World Standards Day.
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Puducherry, Shri N Rangasamy was the Chief Guest of this Programme. During his Presidential Address, Hon’ble Chief Minister appreciated BIS Chennai Branch Office for having its first WSD Programme at Puducherry today. He told that because of various quality initiatives, and “Make in India” the products of our country are being perceived by Consumers as quality products. He also emphasised that ISI Mark, Hallmark means Quality and Reliability and so there should not be any compromise on quality by the officials in the service of Consumers. He also advised that BIS shall have an industry-friendly approach so that more industry people get motivated to start producing quality products. But at the same time, Industry should not take any advantage in producing products of substandard quality.
This was followed by a quality pledge, which was taken by the various stakeholders in the presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister.
This was followed by an Award Ceremony, wherein around 9 selected personnel who had lent active support to BIS programmes were felicitated by Honourable CM with BIS Mementos.
Earlier, Smt.G Bhavani, Senior Director & Head BIS Chennai Branch Office in her welcome address informed that every year on October 14, the members of the ISO, IEC and ITU join together to celebrate the World Standards Day, which is a means of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of the thousands of experts worldwide, who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as international standards.
Shri Praveen Khanna, Scientist- G & Deputy Director General (Southern Region) while delivering the programme objectives and outlined the theme of World Standards Day, which is “A Shared Vision for a Better World: Standards for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. He also spoke on the importance of Standardization. He also informed the audience about the various Sustainable Development Goals and explained how Standards are contributing to attain SDGs.
Dr. Utpal Borah, Head (Central Workshop Division), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research during his speech initially explained on the activities of IGCAR and stressed the importance of BIS to come out with Indian Standards in the field of Atomic Energy. He also added that it is very essential to have a synergy between expected Design versus Indian Standards.
Dr. S. Janakarajan, President, South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies during his speech explained the challenges faced in Standardization in addressing climate change. He also warned that if we don’t address the SDGs now, it may result in biodiversity crisis. He also mentioned that the hydrosphere is in a very bad shape and stated how standardization can address these issues.
Earlier Shri. Arun Pucchakayala, Joint Director BIS made a presentation on the latest initiatives taken by BIS in the promotion of Standards and creation of awareness on Quality Control Orders.