Govt will bring quality norms for 2,500 items soon: Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI : Union Commerce, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Shri Piyush Goyal has said on Saturday that the Centre will soon bring Quality Control Orders (QCO) for about 2,500 items.

Addressing a meting on the 77th foundation day of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), he said till 2014, there were only 14 QCOs of 106 products, but, in 2024, there are 156 QCOs of 672 products. 90% of the QCOs, according to him, came in last few years of the Narendra Modi Government. “QCOs are being processed in nearly 2,500 more items which reflects our commitment towards quality by providing high standards goods and services,” he said.

Prime Minister’s vision

Mr. Goyal said nine years ago, the Prime Minister gave the vision of ‘zero defect, zero effect’ to make products of high quality that are sustainable, eco-friendly and have zero climate impact. He added that this vision of the Prime Minister is being adopted and as a result the consumers have become quality conscious.

“Quality is king. But, better quality is probably the emperor,” the Minister said, adding that quality is cost effective which in turn helps the industry and consumers. “Quality is a common factor and it is necessary. Good quality is non-negotiable and the awareness generated by BIS where in consumers, industry, exporters or importers, all understand its benefits,” he added.

The Union Minister urged the young generation to become the ambassadors of quality and said the youngsters can promote e-learning, and can upgrade performance assessment, review, and analysis of knowledge for holistic development (PARAKH) initiative in colleges and universities. He said that after studying the gap analysis, comprehensive network of state of art modern labs were set up to facilitate BIS and industry. “BIS recently agreed to invest ₹40 crore to set up 21 labs for cotton testing,” he said and asked the industry to come forward with areas for which testing is required.